


A Crisis in Spring

by minatozakimchi



Category: A Pink (Band)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:28:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25126258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minatozakimchi/pseuds/minatozakimchi
Summary: A dorm school AU where the line between best friends and more than friends gets a little blurry for Chorong and Bomi. Bomi falls head over heels for the new transfer student, Son Naeun, and Chorong starts finding herself in a lot of doubt. Chorong battles her feelings and falls into a sexual identity crisis. This would be so much simpler if Chorong didn’t already have her boyfriend, Changsub.
Relationships: Kim Namjoo/Oh Hayoung, Lee Changsub/Park Chorong, Park Chorong/Yoon Bomi, Son Naeun/Yoon Bomi
Comments: 17
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is titled A Crisis in Spring because "Spring" in Korean is "bom" and well, Chorong is in a crisis... connect the dots, if you will!  
>   
> Here’s their years/ages specifically for this story; (names are in order of seniority even if same year)  
> Seniors - Chorong, Bomi, Eunji  
> Juniors - Naeun, Namjoo, Hayoung

*Here's a short chapter to start the story off.

//

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” It’s starting to sound like a mantra and a light pink starts to colour Chorong’s otherwise pale cheeks.

They’re sitting on the floor of the common room with a handful of students and it was a nice chill gathering until someone had snuck in some bottles of liquor (which Chorong, as Class President, will turn a blind eye to since she wants to stay as the Class President everyone loved). It was a game of Spin The Bottle and it was Bomi’s turn when the bottle pointed in Chorong’s direction, which explains why everyone in the room was now chanting for them to kiss. Chorong didn’t even want to partake in this dumb game, she merely sat next to Bomi to stay close to her best friend who insisted she wanted to play. (Mainly because Bomi doesn’t handle alcohol too well so Chorong has best friend duties).

“... Can I?” Bomi asks with both concern and uncertainty laced in her voice. 

“I’m not even playing the game, and Changsub-“ Chorong tries to reason but she gets cut off when her boyfriend of four months speaks up from somewhere in the room. 

“Hey! I’m definitely allowing it!” And that’s Changsub. He’s awfully similar to Bomi - the life of the party and the cool kid everyone wants to be friends with. All he’s thinking about at that moment is how two attractive girls kissing is always a win for anyone, so he shoots them a smug wink.  _ Oh, what the heck,  _ Chorong thinks to herself before she rolls her eyes and faces Bomi. “Fine”, she sighs. 

Bomi shifts her weight onto a hand on the floor and her other hand snakes around the back of Chorong’s head, finding itself in soft black hair. Chorong has her hands on Bomi’s shoulders and as Bomi leans in, the cheering gets louder in the room yet softer in Chorong’s head. She can’t hear them anymore and all she hears is her heart beating. It’s just one kiss, but it’s slow and if they weren’t just friends, it’d come off as  _ really _ sensual. Their lips meet and move in perfect harmony before Bomi tugs Chorong’s bottom lip between her teeth as she pulls away from the kiss, eliciting a small sound from the older girl. Chorong’s cheeks are definitely bleeding a shade of red now. She feels the heat in her face and the embarrassment growing inside and she can’t help but note that Changsub doesn’t kiss her that well. 

“wHOOOOO!!!!” The crowd in the room cheers loudly before Eunji, the Class Vice-President, shouts for everyone to keep their voices down because they wouldn’t want to be caught having a party in the dorm.

Luckily, like most of the other times they’ve had a party, they don’t get caught and everyone’s happy the whole Friday night. 

//

The morning after is what most of them despise.

“Ugh, my head is throbbing” Bomi groans as she stirs awake in her bed, bringing her hands to hold her head tight, as if she could alleviate the pain by doing so.

“Here,” Chorong passes her a painkiller and a glass of water like it’s a routine. To be fair, it kind of was for them. They’ve been best friends since high school and followed each other to college as roommates like it wasn’t even something they had to think twice about. They’ve been living like this, juxtaposed yet a perfect match for each other. They complement one another. Bomi is like a spreading fire and Chorong is the water that comes right after for damage control, to keep the fire down when it should.

“I’m meeting Changsub for lunch soon, don’t die in here, okay?” Chorong chuckles as she moves around the room getting her things, preparing to leave.

“Gosh I wish I had a girlfriend” Bomi states out of the blue, “then at least I wouldn’t be alone whenever  _ you’re _ not with me.” She pouts exaggeratedly and looks at Chorong with sad eyes for extra effect. 

“You know, there’s a lot of juniors vying for you.”

“None of them intrigue me” Bomi sighs. “Besides, they’re always admiring me from afar and have never once approached me.” She was aware that she practically had a fan club of girls mostly from grades below hers, but she never really got to know any of them. (Bomi has always taken pride in the “personality over looks” belief.)

//

The canteen is bustling, and people are chattering away. It’s a normal school day and the five friends sit together as usual - whenever their timetables allow it.

“Hey Bomi,” Hayoung starts, “when’s the last time you had sex?”

This inappropriately frank question earns glares and frowns from Chorong and Eunji who are seated across from the youngest. 

“I can’t even remember... Oh God, am I losing my game?!” Bomi exclaims.

“Namjoo’s a pretty good bottom if you want-“

“YAH!” Namjoo, who’s seated next to Hayoung, slaps the latter's arm harshly and it makes a loud smacking sound.

“I was JOKING, I wouldn’t share you with anyone, promise” Hayoung leans in and gives her girlfriend a peck on her plump lips. They first met when they were randomly assigned as roommates and neither of them expected to fall in love over time. It just happened and no one’s complaining because they make each other immensely happy. 

“There’s a transfer student coming next week,” Eunji interrupts the loving couple in fear they might do more than peck. 

“Hm?” Bomi turns to face Chorong, “Why- habn’t you- chold me that?” Bomi asks with her mouth full of food. 

“Why would I tell you that? You hardly care about the student body, and please don’t talk with food in your mouth” Chorong nags before eating another piece of lettuce from her salad. 

Bomi has some sauce on the corner of her mouth so Chorong wordlessly grabs a paper napkin to wipe it off, and Bomi obediently stays still to let her. They do this a lot - move in perfect harmony. 

“You know,” Namjoo speaks up as she watches the interaction right before her eyes, “if Chorong didn’t already have a popular boyfriend, people might assume you two were dating.” 

Chorong was about to laugh it off and make a joke about how she’d need a gun to her head to make such a decision to date Bomi, but the latter beats her to it. 

“Oh please- Me? with Chorong? Impossible!”

“Wait what - why would you think so?” Chorong asks, slightly fazed by such a quick rejection.

“Well first of all, you’re straight. Secondly, you’re the class president, and I’m the class clown. We’re basically polar opposites.” Bomi shrugs nonchalantly but this explanation comes out like she’s pondered about it before. 

“Hm, fair point.” Chorong hums before her own thoughts start flooding into her head. She’s never actually thought about dating Bomi, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t attracted to the girl. Bomi was Captain of the baseball team (Yes, of course the Captain of the baseball team is a lesbian, what a cliché), so she was physically fit, and it was evident in her body.

Being roommates meant Chorong would see a lot of Bomi, which included her taking her top off before entering the shower or when she comes back from her training and her muscles are toned and she’s sweaty and  _ hot _ \-  _ Hold on, did she just imagine that? _ Chorong shakes her head and erases the thoughts, hoping no one at the table noticed her absence of mind. She thanks God that no one did. That was weird. 

//

The week passes and it’s the day the transfer student is supposed to arrive. Chorong has been tasked as Class President to bring the new student around the school to familiarise herself with the campus and tell her everything she would need to know. Chorong is far from extroverted but she stands up as a leader very well and manages to carry out her role and responsibilities. If she’s being honest, having students respect her also feels somewhat empowering. 

“Hi, I’m Park Chorong, the Senior Class President. I’ll show you around the school today.” Chorong is at the General Office of the school where the new student has just finished submitting some paperwork. Chorong extends a hand as she greets the girl with a warm smile. It's at this moment she looks up and gets a good look at the girl. Her long, wavy black hair cascades down her shoulders. Her eyes glistened as she kept mum. _She’s shy,_ Chorong presumes.

After a beat, the new student smiles back as she takes Chorong’s hand and shakes lightly, her voice flows out with the same sweet innocence as Chorong’s. 

“Nice to meet you. I’m Son Naeun.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bomi meets Naeun and well, it gets a little interesting from there.

“Hey babe” Changsub gives Chorong’s hand a soft squeeze, “you wanna grab dinner tonight? My treat!”

“Oh you don’t have to-“

“Don’t worry, I want to! What about your favourite dakbal?” Changsub beams at her endearingly. Chorong looks at her boyfriend, breaking into a smile of her own. Sometimes Chorong doesn’t appreciate how he flashes his charming smile to just about anyone, but it’s a trait she adores greatly and would never want to change about him. She’s lucky to have him and she knows he would say the same for her too.

Changsub is a sweet heartthrob. He’s in the Basketball team and well-liked by practically everyone. They’re the same age, albeit he’s a few months older. Changsub has a heart of gold, which is what made it so easy for Chorong to fall for him. He was always kind to people, not the stereotypical snobbish popular boy, and Chorong loved his warmth. (She never understood why girls were so fond of “bad boys”.)

//

Bomi was headed to the Baseball room before her training. (Every co-curricular activity club or team had a designated room for their students.) She was in a navy blue dri-fit shirt that had the school crest printed on the front left chest and “BASEBALL” printed in white on the back. Bomi walked as she held her trusty glove in her hand - she was the team’s pitcher, and a superb one at that.

“Hi, sorry, do you know where the Art room is?” Bomi hears a girl ask. She stops in her tracks and turns to face the owner of the pretty voice, only to see a girl she doesn’t think she’s seen before. _A junior_ , she presumes.

“Oh, I’m headed to a room near it, just follow me” Bomi gestures for the girl to walk with her.

“So, you’re joining the Art club?” Bomi asks. Social butterfly striking a conversation with someone she met seconds ago, _typical Bomi_. “I just joined this week” Naeun says cautiously, like she was scared, almost like a child talking to a stranger. But Naeun somehow musters up more courage to continue sharing, “I was told to find a club to join and I like to paint so... here I am!” She ends her sentence with a slight jump and Bomi grins at the returned friendliness.

“You’re here” Bomi points to a door they were nearing. It had a metal plate stuck around eye-level with the words “Art Room” engraved in black.

Naeun fiddles with her fingers and glances between the floor and Bomi. “Thanks” She gives a slight bow to the senior. “No problem” Bomi smiles as she returns the motion of respect. Just as she’s about to turn and head to the Baseball room, she hears the pretty voice again. “I didn’t get your name!”

At the sudden implication to introduce herself, Bomi grins and her eyes turn into crescents.

“Yoon Bomi”

“Son Naeun” she says, without missing a beat.

“Hope to see you around, Naeun. I better get going now, I have baseball training” Bomi explains and Naeun smiles as she turns to open the door of the Art room. Before Bomi reaches her own club room, she thinks about the girl she just met. _Son Naeun. She seems nice._

//

Chorong hasn’t seen or talked to Naeun in a week since she first gave her the school tour. But it seems Bomi has.

The five friends are seated together at a table again and Chorong thinks about their seating arrangement. She wonders if it was a bad choice to sit right between Bomi and Eunji, with Hayoung and Namjoo on the other side of the table. She listens to them bicker like children about whether “Kit Kat” was spelled with a hyphen or not. Bomi, a person of dramatic nature, was currently having an existential crisis finding out there was never a hyphen. Her crisis gets interrupted when she hears a familiar voice call her name, “Hey, Bomi”.

Nauen stands by Bomi’s side of the table, giving a slight bow to everyone seated there before facing Bomi again. She’s a new student, and a junior at that, so she’s been rather respectful to everyone and anyone she interacts with. Social hierarchy is a real thing, and it’s not any less real in schools so she wants to get on everyone’s good side while she still can. (She doesn’t realise that like a third of the student body fawns over her visuals on the daily.)

“Oh hey, Naeun! What’s up?” They haven’t spoken since their meet cute so Bomi has absolutely no clue what Naeun would be here for, and by the same token, Chorong had no idea how Bomi and Naeun even knew each other.

“Uhm.. Do you have training again this Thursday?” _How does Naeun know Bomi has trainings on Thursdays?_ Chorong squints her eyes just a little as she tries to find a connection.

“I do” Bomi nods.

“Well, I was wondering… if you’d like to have lunch with me? I have my art thing too and you were really nice the other time so I just thought we could grab a bite, yknow?” Bomi hands Naeun her phone, “Yeah sure, put your number in, I’ll text you!”

The moment Naeun was out of earshot, Eunji starts “So-“ but Namjoo eagerly cuts in, “Bomi, you have a lot of explaining to do” and Hayoung follows, “Yeah you idiot, who’s that pretty girl and what’s the deal between you two?” Damn these kids. To be fair, Chorong was curious too but she kept mum and waited for Bomi to speak.

“She’s Naeun, and we’re friends” Bomi shrugs plainly. She doesn’t understand why the three of them were being so animated.

Lucky for the class president, Eunji asks the question Chorong’s been asking herself since Naeun even came over to talk to Bomi. “And how exactly do you two know each other?” Bomi tells them the story from last Thursday and this time, the youngest at the table asks another important question. “So this lunch on Thursday - is it a date?” Chorong smiles at this, of course, because she’s happy if her best friend has finally found a girl that interests her. “Does this mean I won’t hear you whine about being lonely anymore?” Chorong jokes and Bomi playfully punches the older girl’s arm, “I’m kidding!”

“I doubt she was asking me out as anything more than a friend” Bomi brings her right hand up to rub her chin as if she was suddenly deep in thought, “Though I wouldn’t mind… She’s really pretty” Chorong tilts her head slightly, _did she hear that correctly?_ “Bomi-ssi, do looks matter to you?”

“Ah- No, I-“ Bomi fails to string a proper sentence of words together at the abrupt question and she lets out a jittery laugh.

//

The lunch was great, and they really hit it off. They had rather contrasting personalities but that’s why they matched so well. Bomi would make a fool of herself or tell a dumb joke and Naeun would find it hilarious and wouldn’t be able to hold in her laughter. Bomi’s an entertainer, a natural comedian, which shouldn’t be all too shocking for someone who takes much pride in being the class clown.

Meeting for a meal becomes a routine for the two of them and sometimes Bomi runs out on her group of friends to meet Naeun for the break she has between classes. They’ve been joined at the hip for about a month now and Chorong gradually finds herself uncomfortable with the idea of Bomi spending that much time with the girl. _Uncomfortable_ , was that the right word?

Last night, Chorong had listened to Bomi talk about her plans for the next day. Some nights they both lie in their own beds and have a little chat in the dark before saying their goodnights. Bomi and Naeun were going to watch a movie then hang out by the Han River. Bomi used to do that with Chorong. But not anymore- ~~not since Naeun inserted herself into Bomi’s life.~~

“You seem pretty serious about Naeun” Chorong pulls her blanket up a little more, its chilly tonight, huh. The lights in the room are switched off and they were in their own respective beds, on each side of the room, less than five meters apart from each other. The moon shone brightly in the night sky, providing some source of light through the window. Chorong could see stars scattered in a sea of darkness and for a second, her mind flashes back to when she used to lie on the grass field with Bomi to watch the beautiful night sky if they couldn’t fall asleep.

Bomi’s voice cuts into her thoughts, “Yeah, she’s amazing,” She confesses in the dark.

“I’m happy for you, Bbom-ah” Chorong replies, and it’s said with sincerity but Bomi feels like Chorong’s voice sounded a little flatter than usual. Bomi doesn’t dwell on it though, it was late, she could’ve been tired, and it probably didn’t mean anything. No more words are exchanged after that, and they both fall asleep to the comfortable silence of the night and the soft hum of the room’s air conditioning.

//

Bomi had just gotten out of the shower and was now getting ready to meet, well, Naeun - _shocking, I know._ She checks her phone and she’s supposed to be at the foyer in five minutes.

“Oh fuck, I’m gonna be late!”

“Bbom-ah, use prettier words, will you?”

“Right, sorry! Don’t wait up,” Bomi hurriedly puts her shoes on, “I’ll be back late!” And with that, the door to their room shuts, leaving Chorong with an empty feeling inside. Solitude is something Chorong is getting all too familiar with these days.

//

For some unexplainable reason, Chorong finds that as weeks pass (and soon enough, months) , she starts experiencing more uneasiness about the budding relationship between Bomi and Naeun. Every time Naeun comes over to the table to say hi to Bomi or to give the baseball captain a gift, Chorong has to stop herself from cringing. Naeun was so sweet and so obviously trying to charm Bomi that it was almost unbearable for Chorong to watch.

“This is beautiful, Naeun! Thank you!” Bomi holds a small square canvas, about the size of her stretched out hand. Shades of orange paint a pretty sunset on the canvas and Bomi beams at it, looking closely as she trails her finger over the brush strokes of the paint, feeling it on her fingertip. “I’m glad you like it.” Naeun says shyly, her cheeks turning a light tint of pink. The conversation continues but Chorong tunes it out as she averts her eyes from this to look anywhere else. She clicks her tongue, and Eunji’s the only one that hears the indication of impatience because she’s sitting next to her in this bustling canteen. The class vice-president looks at Chorong and eyes her face carefully. Is Chorong mad? At Bomi and Naeun? “Why are you staring?” Chorong asks without turning to look at Eunji. “Huh? Oh, nothing!”

Yeah, good save, Meung. Not suspicious at all.

//

Changsub places open-mouthed kisses down Chorong’s neck and she almost closes her eyes and tilts her head to give him more space. _Almost_. Instead, she shoves him away by the shoulder.

“Changsub, stop! We’re in the common room, for God’s sake, anyone could walk in!” They’re both slightly taken aback by Chorong’s sudden hostility.

Changsub has given Chorong many kisses in the common room and Chorong usually stops him before they do anything more than kiss but never this angrily. They’ve been here a lot, on one of the couches in the common room and people rarely walk in this late. It’s one of the few places they could meet to just hang out together. The dorms were segregated by gender and they weren’t allowed to cross over so they settled for common spaces on campus, one of which would be the common room.

“Oh, I’m sorry, babe, I didn’t mean to upset-“ Chorong sighs and squeezes his hands to stop Changsub from apologising, “No, I’m sorry, I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately, I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

This was true, Chorong has been feeling so bothered lately, it’s been affecting her day to day life. In the past week, she forgot about an essay due the next day so she stayed up the night before to finish writing it in her room. Lucky for her, Bomi sleeps late (and was texting Naeun anyways) so it’s not like Chorong was disturbing her sleep by keeping the lights turned on. The class president never loses track or forgets assignments so almost forgetting the essay was huge to her. She only remembered it because she saw the pink sticky note she wrote as a reminder stuck on her wall by her desk. Good thing she writes reminders.

“You wanna talk to me about it?” Changsub asks tenderly, he holds Chorong’s small hands in his and starts rubbing the back of her hands lightly with his thumbs. Chorong loved this side of her boyfriend, how sweet and caring he was towards her, Chorong knows he’d always be there by her side if she needed him. She smiles a little sadly, “Well, I think it’s about Bomi” she sighs again, second time tonight, “She’s been kind of distant now that Naeun’s in her life.”

“Do you feel like she’s replacing you?”

“I guess…”

“It’s normal to feel that way when your friend, especially your best friend, falls in love with someone,”

“She hasn’t said she’s _in love_ ,” she emphasises the last two words.

Changsub chuckles, “Best friends are on a whole different level from lovers, you should know that. You love me but that doesn’t mean you love Bomi any less, does it?” Chorong wordlessly shakes her head in agreement. He was right, loving Changsub has never come between her friendship with Bomi. She still cared for her best friend all the same even after getting together with Changsub.

“It’s okay to feel scared, it just means you still care a lot about your friendship, and if I know anything about you and Bomi, you guys have been through so much of your best times together, she could never replace you. Now come here” Changsub pulls Chorong into a hug. He’s bigger than her (like a lot of people are) so he wraps his arms around her small physique, embracing her with so much warmth and comfort, she closes her eyes and smiles. Changsub has always been able to make her feel better, and Chorong is so thankful for that. What Changsub said also made a lot of sense to her, and she feels a wave of relief go through her body.

It was true, she’s been there for every baseball game in support of Bomi and Bomi has been there for every boring award ceremony Chorong was invited to – even the ones where Chorong was only there as the class president and not to receive a signed certificate of some sort, just so Chorong didn’t have to be alone.

//

“I have some news” Bomi starts. The five friends are seated at the usual canteen table once again. Bomi fails to suppress her huge smile as she continues, “Naeun’s my girlfriend!”

This announcement draws out different responses from the table. Well, only Chorong’s reaction was vastly different from the rest. “Ohmygod finally! Up top!” Hayoung raises her hand and the two jokers high-five, the loud smack makes Chorong flinch slightly. She’s very sensitive to sound. Eunji and Namjoo are hounding Bomi for details and Chorong kind of spaces out. Bomi silently notes that all Chorong has said was “Oh” so she diverts her attention to Eunji, Namjoo and Hayoung, and starts telling her story.

Something had flipped inside Chorong when Bomi disclosed her news. It wasn’t like the thought of Naeun being Bomi’s girlfriend had never crossed her mind, but now that it was more than imagination, she didn’t quite know what to feel. Which was strange, because she thought she’d be really happy for her best friend. Was she not happy? She didn’t know exactly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eventually, I'll make it so that all the members will play their own little part in the story. In this chapter, you'll see that Eunji starts getting involved. Thank you so much for reading, hope you enjoy!

They’re back in their room and Chorong sits against the headboard on her bed with a book in hand. She flips it open to where her pink bookmark (gift from Changsub) was previously wedged and starts reading. Chorong has enjoyed reading ever since she was a little girl, indulging her fondness for stories and literature. On quite the contrary, Bomi couldn’t finish a book if she tried. (And she _has_ tried, because Chorong lent her a book to do so, but Bomi gets bored easily. Baseball is her longest ongoing commitment, followed by Chorong.)

“Hey unnie” Bomi hesitantly sits on the edge of Chorong’s bed, facing the older girl. “Are you okay with Naeun being my girlfriend?” She initially planned on ignoring Chorong’s vague reaction to what Bomi thought was very exciting news, but she couldn’t help it. She needed to know what her best friend thought.

Chorong looks up and simultaneously lowers her book. Her voice comes out soft as silk, but the words sharp like knives.

“I just don’t think she’s right for you.”

“What? Where’s this coming from?” Bomi raises a brow then frowns and Chorong thinks to herself, that’s a good question: _where is this coming from?_

But she doesn’t stop or take her words back. In fact, to her own surprise, she adds on to her statement. “She’s a new junior and you’re a popular senior. Dating you would further elevate her social status in the school.” Chorong shrugs like this was apparent, and Bomi’s jaw drops at the underlying message.

Over the past few weeks, Naeun had been getting more and more attention in the school. But the rumours of her and Bomi made little contribution to her growing popularity. People talked about her simply because she was stunning. She made walking to class look like she was on a fashion runway. Heads turn and eyes follow when she walks around school, she even has a group of fanboys. (Just two weeks ago, she had to reject a puppy-eyed boy but thankfully, Taemin was well-mannered and respected her feelings.)

“Are you saying it’s impossible that Naeun actually likes me?” The question is asked in all seriousness, without a hint of the usual cheerful Bomi.

“I just think you should be careful” Chorong almost shudders under Bomi’s intense gaze but maintains the eye contact as she continues, “I’m your best friend, I’m just trying to protect you.” Bomi gets up from the bed abruptly, “I don’t _need_ your protection.” Then she flounces out the room, and Chorong flinches at the sound of the door slamming.

The weight of what she’s done starts to dawn on her. To make matters worse, she didn’t even know what came over her just moments ago that would cause her to say all that. Did she even mean the things she said? Why did she get so sceptical about Naeun all of a sudden? Whatever the reason, Chorong seemed to accept her new-found doubts about Naeun. You can never be too careful, right?

//

It’s been three days since Bomi stormed out of the room and she’s been sleeping in Naeun’s room. For the first time in their entire friendship, Bomi has been actively avoiding Chorong. The only time they’re in close proximity is when they’re with the usual friends, and even then, the others can sense the awkward tension in the silence between the two. Bomi only goes back to the room (when Chorong isn’t around) to take necessary things like clothes and materials for classes.

Being a transfer student, Naeun didn’t have an option to pick if she wanted a roommate or not, so she got a single room. This worked out great for her anyway because Naeun savours solitude and appreciates the privacy. Having Bomi around in her room and having to sleep on the same bed hasn’t been too much of an obstruction in Naeun’s life, not when she really likes Bomi, so she doesn’t mind having her girlfriend around so much.

In fact, she’s rather glad that Bomi is spending some time away from ~~Chorong~~ her room. She’s seen the older girl give her side eyes whenever she goes over to their table for Bomi. Naeun has noticed how Chorong clings onto Bomi’s arm when they’re walking. She sees how Chorong leans close towards Bomi when she’s laughing. If Chorong didn’t have a boyfriend, Naeun definitely would’ve thought Chorong was in love with Bomi or something.

Still, she doesn’t quite appreciate how close another girl is to her girlfriend, especially after what Chorong implied about Naeun. (Yes, Bomi had explained the argument to Naeun.)

Even if they were best friends and Chorong was supposedly straight, you can never be too careful, right?

The two girls were more similar than they knew.

//

When Bomi had stormed out the room that day, she headed straight to Naeun’s room which was a few floors below. She thought about going to the field to bat some baseballs, but it was getting dark outside and she decided she didn’t want to be alone. Bomi doesn’t like to be alone when she’s upset and Chorong used to be the person she’d turn to for company but obviously, this situation called for different measures.

Bomi knocked on the door and waited a few seconds before the door opened, revealing her stunning girlfriend. “Babe?” Naeun asked, not expecting to see Bomi.

“Can I sleep with you?” Bomi asks simply and it doesn’t hit her that it sounds like she’s asking Naeun to have sex with her on some random night like a booty call until she sees Naeun stumble over her words. “Uhm- uh- what?”

“I meant like just sleep” Bomi chuckles as Naeun’s cheeks start turning pink and she casts her eyes down to the floor. “Oh- yeah sure” She opens the door wider to let Bomi in. “I wouldn’t be opposed to whatever you thought I was saying though” Bomi winks at Naeun as she walks past the taller girl, into her room. Bomi was a natural flirt and Naeun just had to deal with it.

In the past few years, whenever Bomi was upset and didn’t possess the energy to talk, Chorong would let Bomi slip under her blanket and hug the class president to sleep. Just the two of them, spooning innocently through the night. Chorong is usually little spoon but sometimes Bomi wants to be hugged so Chorong gives her just what she wants.

The warm fuzzy feeling she gets when Chorong hugs her to sleep is something she has never found elsewhere. She feels contentment and reassurance, and for as long as she was in Chorong’s arms, she would forget her worries. She doesn’t even know what exactly the reassuring feeling is about, all she knows is that it calms her.

If Bomi’s baseball team had lost a big game, she wouldn’t shout at them or show that she was upset because she knew they played their best, even if she was crestfallen. Bomi was a great captain and would try to make sure that her team knew they did well even if they lost. Bomi was the mood maker of the group and she knew that if she was okay, her team would be okay too. So, she’d hold on until she got back to her room where Chorong would be waiting for her. (That’s if Chorong didn’t wait by the field to walk back together because sometimes Bomi has to debrief her team.) She doesn’t have to say much for Chorong to understand, sometimes the older girl offers before Bomi can even ask. “You wanna sleep with me tonight?” Chorong would ask gently, and Bomi would nod. Chorong would have her head on Bomi’s arm and she would be facing the younger girl, her arm draped across Bomi’s waist, and they’d fall asleep with a peace of mind.

When Bomi sleeps with Naeun, she gets a nice feeling, _but it’s not the same_. Naeun curls up close to Bomi but doesn’t hug her, and maybe that’s just a personal preference thing so Bomi doesn’t ask her about it. Sometimes Bomi wraps her arms around the petite girl instead, but that warm fuzzy feeling just doesn’t show up.

Bomi comes to accept that maybe only Chorong had that effect on her and she settles for the nice feeling she gets with Naeun instead. It’s better than nothing, she figures.

//

Their friends notice the distance that’s been growing between Chorong and Bomi, but only Eunji dares to ask Chorong about it. They had just gotten out of a student council meeting with the other council members and were walking side by side to the canteen where they would meet Bomi, Namjoo and Hayoung for lunch as usual.

“Hey, since it’s just us right now” Eunji clutches onto her notebook in front of her chest, not knowing how Chorong would react to a sudden question, “Did something happen between you and Bomi?”

Chorong reacts just fine. She blinks at the question but doesn’t stop walking and keeps looking straight ahead of her as she plainly answers, “We had a fight.”

“Did this fight have anything to do with Naeun?” Chorong turns her head to face Eunji at this question. “How did you know?”

“I’ve seen the way you look at her when she comes over to our table.” This surprises Chorong, she didn’t think anyone took notice of her little actions like that. When Chorong doesn’t say anything, Eunji continues, “So what is it that you don’t like about her?”

Chorong gives her the same reasoning she gave Bomi the day they fought. “I don’t think she’s good for Bomi, she could be using her but Bomi’s really nice and doesn’t see it.”

_Aren’t_ **_you_ ** _really nice?_ Eunji doesn’t ask out loud. She had found the reason Chorong gave kind of weird and unexpected, especially coming from her. It wasn’t like the class president to be so distrustful of a student, she doesn’t think she’s seen Chorong act like this with anyone besides rebellious students that vandalised school property that one time.

As far as Eunji knew, Naeun was a good student, she attended all her classes and hasn’t broken any school rules or brought trouble to the school, so what exactly was Chorong so doubtful about? Naeun was practically Chorong as a junior with all the attention she got from being pretty. Now that she thought about it, their charms were strangely similar, they were demure and had the innocent pretty girl aura that could get anyone to obey them if they wanted. Their smiles were contagious and their eyes mesmerising.

The only difference Eunji saw was that Naeun had a colder outer surface while Chorong was warmer.

Was that why Chorong didn’t like her? Because she saw Naeun as competition? No way, Eunji shakes her head to clear her thoughts, but another one enters her mind. (It was so ridiculous that she almost laughed at the idea, but she had to be sure.)

“And you’re saying this as her best friend?” Eunji asks cautiously.

“What else would I be saying it as?” Chorong raises a brow but her tone of voice is stern and controlled, almost emotionless. It’s times like these Eunji remembers why the student body respects Chorong as class president.

“Uhm, nothing.” Eunji says, completely retreating from her initial quest for answers. Chorong feels like the younger girl had more to say but whatever unsaid words they were, Chorong doesn’t get to find out because they’ve arrived at the table where the three friends were seated at.

The seating arrangement has changed slightly since the fight. One day, Chorong had told Eunji to swap places with her before they sat down so Eunji sat between Chorong and Bomi. Namjoo and Hayoung stayed on their side of the table as they watched this happen, turning to each other, starting a wordless conversation because they understood each other that well.

Hayoung darts a glance in the direction of their friends then looks back at Namjoo. _Did you see that?_

Namjoo gives a slight frown and nods. _Yeah, that was weird._

They don’t ask about it though.

//

It’s almost been a week of avoiding Chorong when Bomi pushes the door open slowly, sticking her head through the gap to check if the older girl was around. The bathroom door was closed, and she could hear water running. Chorong was taking a shower, which should give her at least a few minutes to grab what she was there for and leave. Bomi just needed a textbook for a class later in the afternoon. She picks up the book, which looks to be in rather good condition, not because she’s careful but because she’s barely used the book. Her luck must be running short today because she hears the click of the bathroom door, _oh shit_.

“Oh- Bomi, hey.”

Bomi scrunches her nose at the way Chorong calls her whole name and not the usual _Bbom-ah._ Bomi throws a glance at Chorong, her hair is damp, and her face is at its barest state, but she looks _so so pretty._ “I just came to get something” but what Chorong hears is _I’m not here to stay._

“Bomi, can we talk?”

There it is again _. Bomi._

“I’m not in the mood for an apology” She was really hoping she wouldn’t have to face Chorong. She’s in a pretty good place with Naeun now (after having to reassure her that Chorong’s words wouldn’t affect Bomi’s feelings for her). Bomi still contemplates whether telling Naeun about her fight with Chorong was a blunder or not, given that if Naeun was okay with Chorong before, she definitely had it out for Chorong now.

“Good, then you’re not getting one” Chorong moves closer to Bomi with slow and small steps. “I’m allowed to worry about you.”

Chorong reaches for the hand Bomi doesn’t have the book in and holds it in hers. The younger girl lets her, and wordlessly looks at their hands, which the older girl takes as a cue to continue.

“I guess...” She sighs, “I was scared. I was scared that you would start neglecting me once you had her as your girlfriend. It’s always been the two of us, you and me, remember? Then she came into your life and she was all you seemed to care about.”

Any form of Bomi’s residual anger subsides when she looks into Chorong’s big round orbs, truly seeing how dismal she was. How broken and lost Chorong must’ve felt for the prim and proper class president that’s usually on top of everything, to look this sad. Bomi’s heart aches a little on the spot.

“You were already spending so much time with her so I couldn’t imagine what it’d be like if you two actually got together. And then it just happened suddenly, and I guess I let fear get the best of me. I’m sorry...”

“You said I wasn’t getting an apology”

“Bomi!” Chorong huffs, to which the baseball captain couldn’t help but find adorable.

Without missing a beat, Bomi drops the textbook and pulls Chorong into a hug. Not a distant awkward hug, but a tight and complete hug with all sorts of emotions contained yet overflowing from the affectionate gesture. Bomi has her arms embracing the older girl, with a hand on the back of Chorong’s head, her thumb caressing soft hair.

They’ve had many of these hugs – they always get one after every baseball game Bomi’s team wins when she runs to Chorong who’s been watching and cheering from the bleachers.

Chorong hugs Bomi’s waist tightly, snuggling her face into the crook of Bomi’s neck. Her face fits perfectly and comfortably there, like it always has. They don’t have to say anything to understand the hug. It’s okay. _We’re okay._

“I’ve missed you, Bbom-ah” Chorong whispers softly against Bomi’s neck.

There it is. _Bbom-ah._


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bomi tries her best to protect her dear friendship with Chorong. The annual Baseball League comes around, and Eunji is more perceptive than she lets on.

Chorong doubles over, clutching her stomach as she almost chokes from laughter. Bomi was doing a very intense rap cover of IKON’s “Rhythm Ta” in their room and Chorong was having the time of her life. She flashes her teeth and her round eyes have disappeared into thin lines as her nose scrunches from smiling so hard. Evidently, Bomi has found her place back in their room and things were slowly going back to normal. (Kind of)

“Ahh come on Bbom-ah” Chorong wipes a tear from her eye but not the giddy smile off her face. “Let’s go for lunch now, our friends must be waiting for us.”

Chorong clings onto Bomi’s arm as they walk to the canteen. There’s barely any space between them, but this is good, this is how they’ve always been. They’re looking for food to get when Eunji spots the two from afar and shrugs. _Huh, I guess they’ve worked things out._ For some unknown reason, she does a double take and looks back up, just in time to catch Chorong laughing at something Bomi said. It must have been hilarious because Chorong playfully punches Bomi’s arm with her free hand before laughing some more. Namjoo and Hayoung are in front of her but Hayoung was showing her girlfriend a new game she got on her phone, not realising that Eunji had been staring past them.

Eunji watches Chorong for just about five more seconds and frowns faintly as thoughts start bubbling up in her mind. The class vice-president has always been perceptive, and right now, she thinks Chorong is overcompensating for the time she lost with Bomi in the past week.

When Chorong and Bomi arrive at the table, Eunji doesn’t ask. She figures it’s none of her business and if Chorong or Bomi wanted to talk to her about it, they would talk to her on their own accord. While they’re all still at the table, Bomi does bring something up but it isn’t about the awkward week of avoiding Chorong.

“The Finals for the annual Baseball League is in three weeks! You guys are coming again this year, right?” The question is asked with hope, even though Bomi knew her friends would be there without a doubt.

“Of course I’ll be there! Baseball girls are hot-“ Hayoung gets smacked on the head before she’s able to continue her sentence.

“You really wanna die?” Namjoo knows Hayoung does this on purpose to tease her but she can’t hold herself back from retorting. It’s a trait Hayoung loves about her because she finds Namjoo’s dramatic reactions highly amusing. It’s also why there’s plenty of good-natured banter in their relationship.

“You know I’m kidding” Hayoung wraps an arm around her girlfriend’s waist and pulls her closer into a side hug. She kisses Namjoo’s cheek and she watches a light pink tint spread across her smooth complexion. Most of the time, Namjoo is loud and fierce, but Hayoung has the ability to soothe her down with simple gestures of affection like such. Namjoo leans in further, heating up in embarrassment, and hides her face in the crook of Hayoung’s neck.

“Oh, get a room!” Eunji rolls her eyes and fakes a gag. Chorong and Bomi just laugh along, this behaviour was nothing out of the ordinary for them.

//

They’ve been in the school library for two hours now. Chorong has a report to finish and Changsub has a test to study for. Chorong has always been in the top percentile of her cohort, but she’s never anything but humble about it. She often helps her classmates if they have trouble understanding a topic and seek for help, and she always helps willingly. Truly a heart of gold, this class president. It’s not any different with her boyfriend too. It’s not like Changsub was dumb, but Chorong made studying easier for him. As much as it is a common misconception and stereotype that guys don’t get as emotionally attached to their girlfriends, Changsub was definitely attached to Chorong. Just her sitting beside him or opposite him at a desk would make him happy. It was sweet, really, how the two of them could make each other’s days just by being near one another. It’s why Changsub is more than okay with studying in a library on a Friday night with his dear beloved girl.

“I’m gonna get water, do you want anything?” Chorong whispers.

“Nah, I’m good babe, thanks” Changsub whispers back.

The school library caters to the students with its huge size. It has an atrium in the center of the second floor, where all the desks are placed neatly. Surrounding the vast studying area, brown oak shelves filled with books line up in perfect rows. Chorong, prim and proper as she is, has always admired the tidiness of the school library.

Chorong takes calm steps, glancing at titles on the shelves as she made her way to the water dispenser (which was strategically placed in the far corner of the level to minimise noise and distraction for the students studying in the atrium). She’s enjoying the peace and quiet when she hears a slight thud nearby and almost instantaneously, she has an inkling that it’s up to no good troublemaking students. She eases her way past a few more rows of tall shelves and towards the sound and nears the corner when she sees a familiar back. It’s Bomi, who currently has Naeun against a bookshelf. They lap into each other’s mouths, hands all over each other, and eyes shut tight, so they haven’t even noticed Chorong. Naeun has three buttons of her shirt undone, revealing some marked skin, obviously Bomi’s work.

It starts to feel awfully wrong that she’s just standing there, so she deliberately clears her throat, and _that_ gets their attention. When Bomi whips her head around and sees her supposed best friend, she instinctively removes the hand from Naeun’s waist.

“Oh, Chorong- hey” Bomi says, her voice much huskier than usual, Chorong notes.

“You’re disturbing people who are actually studying in the library” the class president says in a flat voice.

“Sorry-“ Bomi starts but Naeun cuts in nonchalantly, “Let’s just continue this in my room,” and with that, she pulls Bomi along with her by the hand, leaving Chorong to stand alone, her feet seemingly rooted to the carpet floor. She feels a twist in her stomach. Libraries have always been a safe haven to her, so what exactly is she feeling? Or more importantly, _why_ is she feeling this way? Chorong shakes her head in attempt to rid the odd feeling before turning her heel to return to Changsub. She’s forgotten all about the water.

/

“Hey.. sorry about earlier today in the library” Bomi sits on her bed, across Chorong who’s on her own bed. Bomi plays with her fingers in an awkward manner. They rarely had reasons to apologise to each other so this was new to both of them.

“Oh, uhm, it’s okay” Chorong replies just as awkwardly.

“I know you don’t like her, so I’m just sorry you had to see all that-“

“I said it’s okay.” Chorong says with annoyance. The reminder of what exactly Chorong saw earlier that day brings up all the details she wishes she didn’t notice. Naeun’s unbuttoned top, Bomi’s hands on _her_ , smudged lip gloss, marked skin. It all bothered her more than she thought. Bomi gulped as she detected the irritation in Chorong’s voice and dropped the topic to avoid any more conflict. Bomi makes a mental note that as long as she doesn’t bring up anything related to Naeun, her friendship with Chorong will be fine. (Or so she thought)

//

Bomi has been spending a vast amount of time on the field in the past two weeks. Besides the usual trainings with her team, she’s been spending time in the batting cage followed by practicing her pitching by herself too. Being the captain and main pitcher, she’s always placed high expectations on herself for baseball. They were only a week away from the Finals of the annual Baseball League, but all the extra independent practicing has taken a slight toll on the captain.

Chorong was waiting for class to start when Yongsun plopped down on the seat beside her. Yongsun, her desk-mate, has been a fellow friend since the first year of school. They’ve somehow managed to stay in the same classes with each grade promotion and neither of them are complaining about it. Yongsun was quite similar to Bomi, very bubbly and cheerful, which Chorong gladly accepted.

“How’s Bomi?” Yongsun asked.

Slightly puzzled, Chorong turns to look at her, “What do you mean?”

“Byulyi told me she got sent to the Nurse’s Office just now.”

“What?!”

While Chorong had her fated classmate-turned-close friend, so did Bomi. For the latter, it was Byulyi. (Chorong insisted she matched better with Byulyi, personality-wise) The two shared the same charisma and were both easy to talk to, so of course, they bonded. For over a year now, Yongsun and Byulyi have been together and were quite a power couple around school. They were inseparable (just like Chorong was with Bomi, but romantically) which would explain why Byulyi would text Yongsun about her friend being sent to the Nurse’s Office during class.

“I should go check on her” Chorong stands from her seat, already packing her things. She makes up an excuse that she has to check on things in the Nurse’s Office and the teacher lets her. Technically, it wasn’t urgent enough for her to be there at that moment, but it’s not like she’d get into trouble for that, she was class president after all.

When Chorong arrives, she smiles and bows at the Nurse sitting at the front desk before entering. They’re fairly familiar with one another because Chorong has had to come for class president duties. Most recently, there was a fight and Chorong had to bring the beat-up boys to the office to get treated. She stayed to get their written statements for the disciplinary records then left them in the Nurse’s care.

Bomi is asleep when she gets there so Chorong decides to sit in the chair by the bed and wait. It isn’t longer than forty minutes when Bomi wakes up and finds Chorong asleep. Near the edge of the bed, her head lay on its side with her arms folded under, and Bomi watches Chorong. She scans her sleeping face, full of innocence and serenity. Unconsciously, Bomi smiles a little. She puts a hand on the head of dark hair and pats softly, to which Chorong stirs awake to.

She raises her head, “Hey, are you okay?” Typical Chorong, always caring ~~for Bomi~~.

“Yeah, Nurse said it was overexertion and I just needed some rest. How did you know I was in here?” Bomi replies in her normal low voice, not the usual excited loud one.

“Byulyi texted Yongsun.”

“You were in class? Wait- you got out of class to be here?” Bomi frowns.

“I’m class president, Bomi-ya. The welfare of students is practically written under my job description.”

Bomi scoffs dramatically, “So I’m just a _student_ to you?”

“Of course not.” Chorong answers quickly. _Too quickly._ She clears her throat and punches Bomi’s arm with a disapproving “ _Ugh_ ” sound.

“Ouch! What was that for? I’m unwell, you know?” Bomi feigns being hurt and rubs her arm, but Chorong so much as blinks an eye because she knows Bomi’s stronger than that.

“That’s for you not taking care of yourself!” _You worried me_ , Chorong doesn’t say.

“Sorry” Bomi pouts playfully and makes puppy-eyes for added measure.

//

Things have been great for Bomi in the past week. She’s gotten accustomed to compartmentalising her life, mainly separating Naeun and Chorong into different sections of her day-to-day living. The three other friends seem to get along with Naeun so at least that eases it a little for Bomi. The Finals of the annual Baseball League is this afternoon and she’s facing a rush of emotions, excitement more than anything else. Just like any other game, the team has to gather about two hours beforehand to warm up and practice. This is one of the few times Bomi will be up and about early in the morning, moving around the room, packing and preparing for the game.

“Here,” Chorong hands Bomi a squared reusable plastic box, “I made you a sandwich for the game.”

This isn’t new, Chorong makes her a little snack for every big game but Bomi still lights up every time, “Thanks!”

Chorong hesitates before asking, “Will Naeun be there?”

The smile on Bomi’s face freezes as she eyes Chorong, internally hoping she doesn’t mess up this good streak she’s been having with the older girl. “Uh, yeah, she’ll be there.” Bomi searches Chorong’s eyes but the expression on Chorong’s face is unreadable.

“Okay, see you then,” Chorong gives a slight smile and for a second Bomi is doubtful because the smile doesn’t reach her eyes, but she trusts Chorong, so she doesn’t dwell on it. Maybe Chorong was making an effort for her best friend, and Bomi liked the thought of that. Chorong hugs Bomi and thankfully _this_ , the younger can react instantly to. She hugs Chorong’s waist and closes her eyes as she feels soft breaths on her neck. The calming effect Chorong has on the captain seems to be kicking in - perfect timing if you ask Bomi. Being composed when going into a game is probably the best way to start one.

“All the best, Bbom-ah, have fun out there,” Chorong says.

“Thanks, Rongie,” Bomi replies, but it feels like she was thanking her for more than what it seemed.

//

“What do you think of Naeun?” Chorong had met up with Eunji to head over to the game together where they would meet Namjoo and Hayoung. Rays of sunlight shone through the gaps of big trees above them, causing shadows on the cement path. They were on the way to the field, “You can be honest with me, Meung.”

“Honestly?” Eunji turns to look at Chorong but they don’t stop walking and she’s met with a pretty side profile. So pretty, she almost forgets to continue, but she blinks and faces the front again. “I think she’s a nice girl, and it’s a little puzzling to me that you dislike her so much.”

“And why’s that?”

“You’re one of the kindest people I know,” Eunji replies without missing a beat, but when Chorong doesn’t say anything, she continues. Chorong did say to be honest so Eunji will definitely take this chance to tell her what she thinks. (Except that one ridiculous idea still lingering in the back of her mind. Eunji doesn’t think Chorong would appreciate being accused of being something she isn’t)

“Look, you have a heart of gold, Chorong. Even as the class president, you’re strict, but _forgiving_ , and I just don’t see what Naeun has done that makes her so undeserving of Bomi. If anything, she makes our friend happy. I think you should give her a chance, at least do it for Bomi.”

They’re reaching the sports ground and they can already see the teams practicing their throws on the field. Chorong exhales through her mouth, “Thanks Meung.”

“Does that mean you’ll give her a chance?” Eunji looks at Chorong again. This time, Chorong turns to face her too. “No promises.” And with that, they walk along to the bleachers where it seems Namjoo and Hayoung had already found Naeun.

Thankfully, Naeun was sitting next to Hayoung, who had Namjoo on the other side closer to the stairs, which meant Chorong didn’t have to sit beside Naeun. She feels a wave of relief as she walks towards Namjoo and sits down, Eunji following suit. Soon enough, the game starts.

The visiting team bats first, which means Bomi gets to pitch. Her pitches are almost flawless, so precise and swift. In the first inning, she manages to get a batter struck out at Home base and with the help of her team, two runners are struck out on the field. (They don’t make it past second base) Baseball is the school’s niche sport, so you can imagine how top-notch the team was. Bomi always reminds herself how lucky she is to be able to play with, let alone, lead such skilled players. As confusing as baseball may seem to those not playing it, Chorong has tried over the years to understand the game and with enough help from Bomi, she has gotten the gist of it. She enjoys watching Bomi play. When Bomi’s in a game, she really sweats it out on the field, giving it her all. Her eyebrows furrow into a straight line as she concentrates on the game, her mind and body fully focused on the play. In between innings, sometimes she looks over to the bleachers to see her friends, giving them a friendly wave to signal that she knows they’re there. Chorong particularly likes it when they make eye contact from a distance, she always smiles and gives Bomi a little wave to which the captain would return. They haven’t shared that interaction this game though, but then again, it just started.

Now it’s the Home team’s turn to bat, and Bomi goes first. The opposing team’s pitcher isn’t too bad herself because the first pitch flies right past Bomi’s eyes. She’s always been more inclined as a pitcher than a batter, but this was interesting. Bomi loved a challenge. The field is quiet again as the pitcher prepares to throw and Bomi can feel the bead of sweat trickle down the side of her face in the helmet. She carefully eyes the ball and this time, she swings hard. The bat makes contact with the ball and she drops the bat as she makes a dash for the first base, reaching it just in time. She’s safe.

Both teams put up a good fight but eventually, Bomi’s team wins with more runs. The moment her team was declared the winner of the game, her team had rejoiced, cheering and jumping. The group of them on the bleachers jump for joy too and Chorong, smiling and all, thinks that this is the time Bomi might look over to beam at her. She does – but it’s not Chorong that she beams at. She can tell, because they’re not making eye contact, it’s so subtle but Chorong notices. She squints her eyes before turning to her left slowly, seeing where Bomi’s eyeline led to, and of course it was Naeun. The girl was standing and waving endearingly at Bomi. Chorong looks back at Bomi again and sees her waving back. Chorong almost winces when she feels a tug in her stomach, awfully familiar to the one she felt in the library. She’s been feeling so much but she doesn’t know what she’s feeling and it’s frustrating her. The volume of the cheering around her lowers in her head and she wants to leave. Chorong turns to her right to get away from the group but a hand grabs her own and stops her. She looks up and sees Eunji, her orbs looking into Chorong’s with worry when she gently asks “Are you feeling okay? You wanna get out of here?”

Chorong can only squeeze Eunji’s hand as a reply. If Eunji wasn’t paying close attention, she would’ve missed it, but she doesn’t. Eunji nods in return, “Okay, let’s go,” and she starts walking. Chorong follows, her hand still holding onto Eunji’s. Bomi’s attention falters for a second as she sees two figures leaving the bleachers. She squints when she sees that it’s Chorong and Eunji because she almost doesn’t believe her eyes. That’s weird. Where were they going? And why were they holding hands?

“Captain, Coach wants to debrief us,” Bomi hears a voice from behind her. “Huh? Oh yeah, okay.” She tears her eyes away from Chorong’s disappearing back and turns around to join her team at the side of the field.

/

Chorong and Eunji end up alone in the school gymnasium where they sit on the first row of the indoor bleachers. Eunji takes Chorong’s other hand and holds them in her lap, she looks into Chorong’s eyes with concern. “I have a theory, but I’m not sure you’re gonna like it.” Eunji voices. Chorong still hasn’t said anything since the field, she didn’t say anything on the way here either. She simply followed Eunji’s lead, eyes on the ground, letting the hand guide her. She silently looks up at Eunji and the younger one takes this as a sign to continue. But the universe must be against Eunji’s idea to voice out her true thoughts because Chorong’s phone starts buzzing. “Sorry” Chorong mumbles so much as says, swiping the screen and bringing her phone up to her ear.

“Changsub? Are you okay?” Eunji’s ears perk up at the mention of Chorong’s boyfriend. “I’ll be right there.” Chorong hangs up and Eunji tilts her head and raises her eyebrows, hoping for an explanation.

“Changsub has a fever, he’s in the Nurse’s Office. I’m gonna go bring him some food. Oh right- what were you just saying?”

“Oh, it’s nothing much, you should go,” Eunji lets go of Chorong’s hands and gestures towards the doors. “Okay, I’ll see you, Meung.”

What fate, huh?

Eunji stays seated as she watches Chorong briskly walk out of the gymnasium, leaving her alone in the large hall. Perhaps fate was helping her out. After all, what she was about to do was ring a bell she couldn’t unring. And she didn’t know if she was ready for that.

She didn’t know if _Chorong_ was ready for that either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been swamped with school work, so I haven’t had time to update this fic but I hope this longer-than-usual chapter makes up for it! Chorong still doesn’t know what she’s been feeling (or does she?) but it seems Eunji has a pretty good idea. Timing is crucial though, as shown in the end of this chapter :/ Anyways, thanks for reading!! Leave a comment if you’re feeling generous~


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, everyone seems to have questions, but the real question is, will Chorong accept the answer she’s looking for?

It’s been over a week since the Baseball League finals, and Eunji hasn’t continued her unfinished conversation with Chorong. She decided to wait – for what exactly, Eunji wasn’t sure. The class vice-president decided to sit back and observe the older girl more. Eunji, however, wasn’t the only one with eyes.

Hayoung waited for her game screen to load. It’s Saturday, which means she can spend time playing games at her desk without worrying about being late for class. She had brought her desktop computer to the dorm when she first moved in. At the time, Namjoo just figured _huh, she’s a gamer_ , and not, _huh, she’s the love of my life._ Funny how life can change so much in ways you wouldn’t expect. Namjoo had just gotten out of the shower, her hair wrapped in a towel and her body clothed in just undergarments – a matching purple set, Hayoung notes as her eyes follow the moist exposed skin, her body turning like a machine as Namjoo walked to the cupboard to get her clothes. She sees Hayoung through the mirror and snorts, “Stop staring, you perv.”

“You like it when I watch,” Hayoung smirks before turning back to her screen. Namjoo rolls her eyes, she had no words to defend herself anyways, Hayoung wasn’t entirely wrong. They were in their room and it was just the two of them. Namjoo and Hayoung fit like two perfect pieces of a puzzle, they were extremely comfortable with one another both mentally and physically, and their relationship was built with an incredibly strong foundation of trust. It’s because Namjoo trusts Hayoung so much that she’s okay with Hayoung joking about being unfaithful. Well, also because it’s a known fact that Hayoung is too scared of her girlfriend to _actually_ cheat on her so, whatever works. Like Bomi, you’d probably hear Namjoo before seeing her. Her character was comical, and she was very well-liked by students. Some would say her radiant smile is contagious and call her a walking ball of sunshine, the human “energizer”, if you will. With all that energy and joy, it made sense that Namjoo was the school’s Head Cheerleader.

“Joo, why do you think Chorong dislikes Naeun so much?” The thought had suddenly popped up in her mind and because the couple had no walls between them, random thoughts like this could be voiced out anytime. Being together created a safe space for both of them, a personal shared space where there would never be any judgement. And Hayoung hasn’t been blind the entire time, she’s seen what looks like Chorong shooting laser beams at Naeun’s head with her glaring orbs.

“Isn’t it obvious? She’s jealous,” Namjoo shrugs like this was the most apparent thing but Hayoung can only frown, more confused now than before she asked the question. “Why would she be jealous?” Hayoung asked with her eyes still glued to her screen, looking for enemies to shoot. If gaming had any benefit on Hayoung, it was increasing her ability to multi-task.

“Because she’s in love with Bomi,” Namjoo pulls her sweatpants up to her waist and ties the drawstrings.

“WHAT?!” Hayoung whips around in her seat, completely forgetting about her game. Her eyes were wide, jaw dropped, and she stayed still, staring at Namjoo for an elaboration.

“What?” Namjoo repeats back at Hayoung but in a more composed manner.

“What do you mean Chorong’s _in love_ with Bomi? We’re talking about the same person, right?”

“Have you not seen the way Chorong looks at Bomi? It’s how _we_ look at each other. That girl definitely has some kind of feelings for Bomi, even if it isn’t _love_ , it’s getting there.” Namjoo plops down onto her bed. “I thought it was obvious, I’m just waiting for her to figure it out,” she shrugs again before lying on her back.

Hayoung turned back to face her screen, her mouth still agape. Her character had gotten killed and was waiting to be respawned, but she had a more pressing matter in her head right now. Hayoung blinked at her screen and asked another question before clicking to respawn her character, “Are you sure, Joo?”

“Well, it’s just what I think, but you could start seeing for yourself, we have that picnic tomorrow, remember?”

Hayoung hums in response then spends the next few moments thinking to herself. Namjoo’s theory made sense, even though she had never really seen Chorong as anything but, well, straight. Speaking of which, if what Namjoo speculates is true, what about Changsub? Hayoung was sure Chorong loved him with her whole heart and soul. She couldn’t even begin to fathom that Chorong would emotionally cheat on her boyfriend like that, and with a _girl_?

It just _wasn’t_ _Chorong_.

“Wait- then what about Bomi?” Hayoung’s curiosity was piqued and now that Namjoo offered her own insight, it got Hayoung thinking a lot more.

“Hmm,” Namjoo put her phone down and looked up at the ceiling as she wondered, “There was a time I thought Bomi was head over heels for Chorong, but I’m not sure what happened. It kind of just disappeared, almost like her feelings faded away.”

“What if they faded but never truly disappeared?” With her curiosity piqued, her brain started churning and Hayoung was now asking the right questions. This time it’s Namjoo’s turn to hum in response as she let the thought sink in.

//

It’s Sunday and the girls are all excited for the picnic. Naeun had reluctantly agreed to let Bomi go without her, so she could spend some quality time with her friends since she’s been rather occupied with Naeun.

The five girls felt the breeze on their faces as they looked for a cozy spot to settle down. It was bustling by the Han river today, with people all over the grass. Chorong looks around her and sees a group of friends playing frisbee, and a couple with a cute white Maltese on a leash. They found an empty spot and started setting up their stuff. Once all the takeout food was arranged nicely onto the mat, they all sat around the food. Out of habit and familiarity, they sat down like how they would at a table, but more circular. Chorong was between Bomi and Eunji, and Hayoung and Namjoo were side by side. The wind makes Bomi run a hand through her hair and Chorong feels her heart falter for a split second. Was she low on sugar or something?

The food platter was splendid, there was kimbap, tteokbokki, dakbal, and chicken wings. While eating, Bomi uses her chopsticks and places a piece of dakbal onto Chorong’s plate, her favourite. Hayoung watches carefully, her head lowered as if she was focused on the food on her own plate, but she swears she sees Chorong’s cheeks turn the lightest tint of pink. But as a person of reason and a person still not convinced that Chorong wasn’t straight, Hayoung deemed this evidence as insufficient. She needed something more substantial to really prove Namjoo was right.

Most of the food is gone, devoured by the five girls and they were just chatting to catch up, even though they see each other almost every day. Bomi was telling an episode that happened last week where she was caught sleeping in class, so the teacher asked her for the answer to 8 plus 17, and Bomi said “21” with so much confidence, the whole class broke into laughter. They laugh at Bomi’s story too, but Chorong does that thing where she leans closer to Bomi when she laughs. Her chin falls onto Bomi’s shoulder as her hand grabs Bomi’s arm to support her weight. Namjoo maintains her smile as she glances over to Hayoung and raises an eyebrow, as if she was proving a point, and Hayoung almost scowls back with her eyes. While the two of them were having their own silent conversation again, Eunji manages to catch the class president flashing her signature smile with the squinting eyes. Her ridiculous theory starts feeling less ridiculous with every passing moment.

While these friends were having their suspicions, Chorong feels a rush inside her while her head was still resting on Bomi’s shoulder, her face inches apart from the side of Bomi’s face. The rush isn’t an unwelcome feeling like the twists and tugs she gets when she sees Bomi with Naeun. No, this rush was the kind of feeling she used to get when Changsub gave her flowers or surprised her with a hug, it was the rush she’d get when she’s _happy_. It was weird, she never really had this rush with anyone else. This time, her smile is what falters. _What was she feeling? Was Bomi causing this rush? Why was she feeling so much so suddenly?_ Chorong had so many questions but no answers to any of them. (Or so she thought)

Unfortunately, Chorong was so distracted by her thoughts that she misses the way Bomi tensed up beneath her touch. They’ve always been clingy and physically close in their friendship so Bomi doesn’t know why her body chose to go stiff today of all days, this touch of all touches. Chorong retreats her head from Bomi’s shoulder, putting her hands back in her lap, her smile fading as she lets herself realise how being that close to Bomi made her feel. She snaps out of her trance when she hears Eunji’s voice. She’s telling a story of how she’s been spending a lot of her time in the school gym after classes if she was free. Apparently, someone had taken a picture of her recently and because of the lighting, it made her look so buff, her classmates started calling her “Thor”. It’s a funny story, Chorong will give her that, so she laughs, but it’s not the same. If it’s any consolation, the rest of the picnic goes smoothly anyhow.

//

Chorong was in denial, a lot of it. Any mere thought that pointed at her being not straight was instantly thrown to the back of her mind for her to bury and hopefully never dig up again. It’s not like she’s never thought about it, _but that’s exactly it._ Allowing any of those suggestive thoughts to linger in her mind for more than two seconds would automatically be an acknowledgement, and Chorong was definitely straight, right? Probably. She just has to ignore her thoughts. Simple, yet not, because Chorong’s subconscious need for answers is hard to tame. She needed to seek answers from someone, preferably someone gay. She needed someone who’d be insightful enough to enlighten her, someone close, but not close enough to be in the same friend group.

“You and Byulyi started out as friends, right?” Chorong asks. The teacher was running late so the students were patiently waiting in class and Yongsun was currently writing notes in her book, but Chorong had been busy sorting many thoughts. “Yeah,” Yongsun replies.

“How did you know you liked her as more than a friend?” Chorong asks after a beat of hesitation to continue, and this is what makes Yongsun look up from her book to turn and face Chorong, “Byulyi made me feel whole, like she completed me,” Yongsun smiles and her eyes avert to the floor, “She made me feel safe, and I could always be myself around her. I guess over some time, I just came to realise that I loved her.” Chorong watches Yongsun’s lips curl up, forming a shy little smile and it warms Chorong to see.

“But you were already gay before you met Byulyi, right?” _Chorong, stop._ The fear in her head tells her but the curiosity subdues it.

“Yeah”

“So, one day, you just _knew_?” Chorong voices once more and Yongsun’s eyes turn back to Chorong, a crease forming between her eyebrows, “What’s with your sudden interest in my sexuality?”

“What? Oh, I- I don’t know, I just suddenly uhm, wondered what it was like for you, you know?” Chorong internally slaps herself on the head for stuttering like that. She wasn’t prepared for that question. How was she supposed to say “I’m questioning my own sexuality” without acknowledging the fact that she was questioning her own sexuality?

Well, she couldn’t.

Yongsun looks at Chorong for a solid three seconds before spinning her pen with her fingers, “Anyways, yeah, you’ll just know.”

“I see,” Chorong nods as she faces the front of the class again. _Wait, did she just say “you”? As in, me? I’ll know? But I’m not gay._ She whips her head back at Yongsun with a frown, disapproval evident on her face.

“Wait- I’ll know what?”

Yongsun searches Chorong’s round desperate orbs, desperate for answers, it seems. _Interesting,_ Yongsun thinks to herself. “Oh, nothing.” She leans back in her chair, a glint of humour in her eye. The class door opens and the teacher rushes in, and Chorong has to initiate the mandatory class greeting. Yongsun lets a knowing smile escape onto her lips. Great timing.

She found it suspicious, all the curiosity Chorong suddenly had about how Yongsun knew she was in love with her friend. Was Chorong looking for help with a similar situation? Yongsun personally believes that she had impeccable gaydar, which is why she finds it oddly amusing how Chorong couldn’t be any more obvious with the sudden questions and stumbling of words. But she couldn’t be too sure, it was _Chorong_ , after all – straight and attached to Changsub.

//

It was late and both of them had washed up and were ready for bed. Bomi pulled her blanket up as she glanced to the side. The lights were turned off and the room was essentially only lit up by the moonlight through their window like most nights, but it was enough to see that Chorong was simply staring at the ceiling. Bomi turns her head back so she’s also facing the ceiling.

“Is something on your mind?” Bomi’s low voice fills up the quiet atmosphere.

“What?” It takes a few seconds for Chorong to register Bomi’s voice in the dark room.

“You seem pretty distracted, what’s wrong?” Bomi knows Chorong too well. _Too well, yet not well enough._

“Nothing much, really,” Chorong hesitates.

“You sure?” Bomi’s voice was husky but Chorong could hear the care enveloped in her voice.

Chorong takes a few more seconds to reconsider. She had been thinking about what Yongsun said; how she just _knew_ , and how Chorong would just know too. But Chorong _didn’t_ know, and that was the problem, wasn’t it? She decides there’s no harm in asking Bomi for her insight. After all, she liked girls. Well, one specific girl right now, but that wasn’t the point. _~~Wasn’t it, though?~~_

“So this junior,” Chorong feels her heart thumping in her chest, “she asked me what it meant if she’s been straight her whole life but recently she’s starting to feel things for a girl... I didn’t know how to answer that. Do you have any idea?”

If Bomi was being honest, she didn’t expect such a complex situation when she asked what was wrong. The captain had just thought Chorong was stressed about studies or class president duties and wanted to talk about it to relief some stress, nothing new. _This_ , however, was definitely something new, and Bomi realises she hasn’t answered Chorong, “Well, she could be bisexual.”

Bisexual. That makes a lot of sense, actually. Why didn’t that occur to her sooner? _Wait, what the hell?_ This wasn’t about her. Chorong wasn’t gay - or bisexual. She wasn’t. She loves Changsub, doesn’t she?

“Oh,” Chorong clears her throat, “I hadn’t thought about that.”

“Who did you say this was about, again?”

“A junior, uh- it’s a secret, she’s not out”

“Ah, okay Rongie” Bomi chuckles and Chorong smiles to herself in the dark, almost melting at the way Bomi says _Rongie_.

Wait.

No.

Oh, God.

Chorong completely freezes, her smile drains from her face and panic shoots through her entire body. She feels like an anvil is sitting on her chest as it gets harder to breathe and she feels the room spinning. Her whole world is spinning, she’s losing it, all the thoughts she’s pushed to the back of her head were all rushing back, and it all made sense. It always had. Chorong gulps, surprised she could do so, with how cold and still her body had become under the blanket. She needed to talk to someone; someone grounded and sensible, someone she could trust with anything. She needed to talk to Eunji.

Chorong barely sleeps a wink that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, we see that Chorong is in denial, which is actually completely natural for someone questioning their sexuality. It's especially difficult in Chorong's position because she has Changsub and things with him are good, but the heart wants what it wants, yknow? If you've made it this far into the story, wow thank u so much! Do leave a kudos or a comment or anything at all if u like <3


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chorong faces a bridge she’s been trying to avoid for a while now, and realises she has to cross it.

“You look horrible, why is that?” Bomi asks as she gets up from her bed to see Chorong moving about in the room, preparing for class. Chorong’s eyes looked tired, her lids seemingly heavy, and her face drained of colour. “Hm? Oh, I just couldn’t sleep well last night,” Chorong replies. “Why didn’t you just get into my bed?” Bomi snickers, not knowing how hard it is for Chorong to even look at her right now. Under normal circumstances in the past, if either of them had any trouble sleeping, it was an unwritten rule that they could slip into the other’s bed and sleep there. It worked great and they’d sleep nice and snug under the blanket. Last night was nowhere near normal circumstances for Chorong, and for obvious reasons, she couldn’t just snuggle up against Bomi in her bed and go to sleep.

The older girl stops in front of the mirror to tidy up her appearance. “I didn’t wanna wake you,” she manages to reply, her eyes fixated on her own face in the reflection, so she doesn’t have to look at Bomi while lying to her. It felt weird, they never had to lie. Watch each other lie to other people, maybe, but never to each other.

//

Changsub was walking Chorong to her next class like he did sometimes if their timetables lined up. “You okay, baby? You look sick,” Changsub comments. He’s always been so vocal with the concern he had for Chorong. “Yeah I’m fine, just tired,” she shrugs. Another lie, and it’s only been a few hours.

Changsub reaches out to hold Chorong’s hand as they walk through the school hallway, past the lockers and classrooms, and her heart almost stops – not because it’s romantic, but because she has half the mind to remove her hand from his hold. She’s not mad at Changsub though, she’s mad at herself. Was she cheating on him emotionally? Chorong couldn’t believe herself, and she didn’t want to. She doesn’t let go of his hand though, in fact, she holds on tighter.

When they’ve reached the classroom door, Changsub is about to leave but Chorong grabs his arm to stop him, then with her hands placed on his shoulders and a slight tiptoe, she kisses him on the cheek. “Text me when you can,” she says before she turns to enter the class. If Changsub was surprised by the sudden sweet gesture, which he is, he doesn’t show it. Chorong isn’t a huge fan of public displays of affection, especially in school since she was class president and all. So it was a little unusual that she willingly kissed him in the school hallway like that, but Changsub doesn’t dwell on it and walks to his class cheerfully.

Chorong, however, does dwell on it as she takes her seat in class. Did she do that out of guilt? God, it’s like she can’t even control her actions anymore. Chorong feels bad and she doesn’t even know why. She loves Changsub, but not the same way she did all those months ago. She still cares for him and likes him as a person, but maybe not so much as a boyfriend. Did that make her a bad person? People fall out of love all the time, right? Perhaps that’s what was happening to her too. Oh, what was she even thinking? Everything’s currently just a whole mess to her.

She _has_ to talk to Eunji.

/

At lunch, all five friends were at the table together when Changsub walks past to go to his next class. He glances to the table and gives Chorong a dashing eye smile, which she returns without hesitation. She really has to figure out what she’s doing with Changsub before _someone_ gets hurt. Eunji looks up at the right second to catch Chorong smiling at her boyfriend and something about it just doesn’t sit right with her ridiculous theory. Maybe that’s all her theory was – ridiculous. Chorong was happy with Changsub and it seems like they’re more than great right now, so maybe Eunji had got it wrong. Or maybe it was just a dumb case of infatuation that Chorong had with Bomi. She could’ve just been confused for a short while. It made sense, why else would she still be this close to Changsub? Chorong wasn’t a cheater, and Changsub was a sweet boy, she wouldn’t do that to him.

What really puzzles Eunji is what happens next. Bomi reaches for Chorong’s drink on the table but before the baseball captain can lift it, Chorong snaps at her, “Don’t you have your own drink?” It’s sharp, and even their friends are taken aback by the sudden unfriendliness. “O-oh, sorry,” Bomi stutters and blinks, processing what just happened. Chorong has never cared for Bomi taking her stuff, she’s always encouraged it – giving Bomi a spoon of her rice, a bite of her ice cream, a sip of her drink, even if Bomi had her own.

_Maybe she’s just having a bad day_ , Bomi thinks.

And if Chorong thought her day couldn’t get worse, let’s just say she was wrong.

Class was dismissed early because the teacher had a meeting to attend to. Chorong trudges back to her room alone. She just wants a break, a break from reality, a break from her life so she can forget everything for a while, but at the same time, she wants to solve everything, she wants to fix things. What exactly did Chorong want to fix? Well, she wasn’t too sure about that. She wasn’t too sure about anything at this point.

Chorong opens the door and with one step into the room, instant regret washes over her. As if the first time in the library wasn’t bad enough, she sees Bomi and Naeun making out, again. This time it’s exponentially worse because they’re on Bomi’s bed, in the room she shares with Chorong. This was supposed to be _their_ space. Now there’s Naeun all over her bed and it’s a revolting sight to Chorong. Naeun was in a black bra, straddling Bomi, her hands on the captain’s shouders and neck. The kisses were open and heavy but as soon as Bomi heard the click of the door, she pulls away from the kiss, snapping her head to the sound. That’s where she sees Chorong step in, and that’s as far as she makes it into the room.

“Shit, Chorong,” Bomi scrambles off the bed, gently pushing Naeun off of her in the process, “I thought you had class, I’m sorry. We can leave.” She gets up to walk to the door and Chorong catches a glimpse of a topless Naeun on the bed rolling her eyes. “It’s fine, I have somewhere to be anyways,” Chorong says and she closes the door before Bomi can respond or even reach her. The sight was gut-wrenching, and she tries to ignore it; she tries not to think about it. _She tries._

Chorong didn’t really have a plan, but her feet moved like they were on autopilot. She was walking somewhere without a care for her surroundings and before she knew it, she was knocking on Eunji’s door. The door opened and showed Eunji with her glasses on, she had been studying. “Chorong, hey, what’s up?” She didn’t expect to see her.

“Can I come in?” is all she says.

“Yeah, of course,” Eunji opens the door wider and steps aside to let Chorong in. Eunji’s room is modest and humble like the owner. Definitely smaller than Chorong and Bomi’s but big enough for one person. An open book laid on her desk beside her headphones. Eunji enjoys music, and has a beautiful voice herself, actually, but not that surprising coming from one of the Choir Heads. Her room was clean, and it smelled like fresh laundry too. _Cozy_ , Chorong thinks.

The bed dips at Chorong’s weight as she sits on the edge. Eunji takes her chair and pulls it to sit in front of the older girl. Chorong’s head hangs low and her eyes watch her own fingers fiddle around in her lap. Chorong doesn’t even know where to start. _What was she supposed to say?_

“Do you wanna talk?” Eunji starts with her genuine caring voice. It’s gentle and soft, and she uses it when comforting people so they feel more at ease to confide in her.

Chorong lifts her head at the question then takes a moment to let the words leave her mouth. “I don’t like her with Naeun.” She doesn’t have to say Bomi’s name, Eunji knows exactly who she’s talking about. It felt good saying that out loud, even though it was just a short statement, it was the most truthful unfiltered thing she has said today.

“Is there a reason for that?”

Well yes, there’s a reason, but no, Chorong can’t say it out loud. Not yet, at least. She can’t bring herself to say the words that would describe how she feels. It’s difficult, she hasn’t fully accepted it herself. Eunji searches Chorong’s wavering dark chocolate orbs, but finds nothing, so she continues.

“She makes Bomi happy, don’t you care about her?” Eunji had her theory and she thought this was Chorong realising she had a little crush on her best friend. She decides to approach the topic as gently as possible, scared that Chorong was sensitive right now.

“Of course I care about her,” Chorong takes a breath and lets out a sigh before continuing, emphasising the words she says next. “All I _ever_ do is care about her.”

It takes barely a second for something to click in Eunji’s brain when she hears the way Chorong says this, the way she sounded broken inside. Her theory didn’t go deep enough, she realised, she was right the first time, it wasn’t just a harmless case of infatuation or a dumb crush.

“You’re in love with her, aren’t you?” Eunji looks at Chorong with a concerned gaze, the question laced with intuition and what Chorong thinks is sympathy. When Chorong merely stares at her with a scared and lost expression and says nothing, Eunji continues with what little words she manages to say.

“Oh, Chorong... it’s okay,” She gets up from her chair to sit beside the older girl and gently pulls her into a hug. It takes a few seconds before Eunji starts hearing soft whimpers. Chorong hugs Eunji’s waist tightly, almost as if she was trying to hold herself together, _because she was._ She buries her face further into the nape of the younger girl’s neck, tears staining Eunji’s collar. “Shh it’s okay,” Eunji whispers, repeating the same words because she doesn’t know what else to say. Eunji rubs the back of Chorong’s head, and Chorong shuts her eyes as she starts shaking in Eunji’s embrace. Chorong didn’t know what to say to answer Eunji’s question, but she didn’t have to say anything. Her body language was enough of an answer.

_Chorong was in love with Bomi._

“What do I do?” her muffled and broken voice fails to hide the hopelessness she feels.

“I- I’m not sure,” Eunji wished she had the answer but there wasn’t really a book for her to study to prepare for situations like this. They stay on the bed like that and Eunji patiently waits for Chorong to calm down. She doesn’t let go of Chorong until the crying stops. It takes roughly twenty minutes for Chorong to finally catch her breath and find composure within herself.

“If you’re serious about Bomi, you should break up with Changsub,” Eunji says after releasing Chorong from her hold, looking into her eyes just to make sure Chorong was still present in the moment.

“I don’t wanna hurt him,” Chorong’s voice is sad, she never means any harm to anyone.

“Well do you love him?”

Chorong hesitates, “Not the same as before.”

“Then you’re only delaying the inevitable. Staying with him even though you love Bomi would be dishonest in itself, and I think he deserves the truth,” Eunji reasons.

“Do I tell him I lost feelings for him?” Her voice is small like a child being told to admit they’ve spilled some juice.

“I think that would help, at least then he knows you’re not breaking up with him for no reason,” Eunji presses her lips into a straight line, almost a smile but not quite. Her theory was right, but she wasn’t prepared for this, she wasn’t prepared for what would happen if her theory was true. She didn’t think that far to predict that Chorong would come find her and cry in her arms but thankfully, she’s quick-thinking and can keep herself composed in difficult situations, so her brain hasn’t malfunctioned from shock. Chorong needs her right now and she wasn’t going to add stress onto the girl by panicking.

“I don’t think I should tell Bomi yet,” Chorong starts.

“Because of Naeun?”

“No, because I don’t think me telling her would change anything.” Chorong’s eyes avert to the floor as she feels her heart crack a little, the familiar tug but instead of her stomach, it’s in her chest. She feels her heart constrict at the thought of how her feelings for Bomi wouldn’t change how Bomi felt about her. It’s always been the two of them but what Chorong wants now is the two of them _together_.

Eunji has absolutely no idea what to say to this and it shows because she doesn’t say anything. She can’t exactly say _“That’s not true, Bomi loves you and would drop Naeun for you any day!”_ now can she? There was nothing Eunji could say that would make Chorong feel better, so she keeps mum, and Chorong speaks up instead.

“Do you think I could sleep here tonight?” Chorong asks because she doesn’t want to go back to the room where she has to see Bomi. The captain will probably want to talk and apologise for what happened earlier on and Chorong doesn’t want that, she doesn’t want to face her biggest problem right now. Eunji’s surprise is evident in the way she blanks out at the question. There’s only one bed in her room so that means she would have to share it with Chorong if she stayed the night, and they’ve never slept together. When Eunji doesn’t agree instantly, Chorong thinks it was selfish and too much to ask for so she’s about to say sorry and leave when Eunji says “Sure, anything you need,” and gives a warm smile. Relief flows through Chorong and she moves forward to hug the younger girl again.

“Thank you,” Chorong says softly and Eunji knows it isn’t just about staying the night. She’s genuinely grateful for Eunji being there, for letting Chorong cry on her shoulder and for staying with her.

/

Naeun had left the room about an hour after Chorong left and Bomi has been checking her phone for a text from the older girl ever since. Bomi turns her head to the door when she hears footsteps outside and waits but the door doesn’t open, it was just other students walking by. She’s on her bed, scrolling through her social media, waiting for Chorong to come back from wherever she claimed she had to be. Like Chorong predicted, Bomi wanted to apologise. She was doing a pretty good job at separating the two girls in her life, but she made a little mistake by bringing Naeun back to her room. Bomi blames wicked fate for sending Chorong back earlier than expected on the day she has Naeun in their room, in such a position, but she knows she’s more to blame than just fate.

Bomi opens the chats in her phone again for the fifth time this hour - still no text from Chorong. The sun has already set and Chorong doesn’t usually go out during the night alone, so she decides to text Eunji, since the vice-president would know if Chorong had student council things to settle.

Eunji’s phone lights up on her desk and she glances to read the notification to see that it’s Bomi asking about Chorong’s whereabouts. She’s been quietly and diligently studying at her desk, leaving Chorong curled up in a blanket on her bed. Chorong hasn’t been asleep the whole few hours, but she’s been thinking about many things. A lot has been going on in her head, like how the hell she would break up with Changsub, or if she even should. Eunji glances over from where she’s seated to see if Chorong is still awake. Her eyes are closed and if Eunji concentrated hard enough, she could hear Chorong’s even breathing; she’s finally asleep. It’s good, _she needs to rest_ , Eunji thinks to herself before picking up her phone to reply Bomi.

**Eunji** _: She’s staying over in my room tonight_

 **Bomi** _: Is she that mad at me?_

 **Eunji** _: Nah, she just came over to study then got too tired so she fell asleep_

 **Bomi** _: Oh okay_

Eunji hoped that was enough of an excuse to stop Bomi from asking her more questions. This was a matter Chorong had to address to Bomi herself, so Eunji didn’t want to pry or put herself in sticky situation, especially between two of her closest friends.

Bomi tapped her finger against the side of her phone, still in doubt if she should believe her same age friend or not. _Was Chorong avoiding her or was she really too tired?_

The room was quiet, and the air was stale. The lack of another person in the room made Bomi feel lonely and she pulled her blanket up to her chin in hopes that it would warm her. It was especially chilly tonight, and a night like this would usually end up with the two of them in Bomi’s bed, but tonight was different. For the first time in years, Bomi is cold and alone in the room, and she truly feels the absence of Chorong.

She doesn’t quite like this feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it! With much difficulty, Chorong accepts that she’s in love with Bomi, and now Eunji is the only person that knows for sure. Thanks for following the story this far, I hope you’re enjoying the read! Leave your thoughts in the comments if you want, I like knowing what my readers think :D


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chorong’s attempt at controlling her feelings takes a turn for the worse. Bomi doesn’t like that Chorong is being secretive and it essentially drives a wedge between the two.

Chorong has been trying to go on about her life as per normal, trying to ignore the fact that she’s irrevocably in love with her best friend who has absolutely no clue. The next morning when she returned to her room, she had shrugged it off and told Bomi what Eunji told her. _I got tired from studying and fell asleep there._ And Bomi, albeit reluctantly, believed her best friend. What did Chorong have to lie for anyway?

_Oh, if only Bomi knew._

Living with such a huge lie is hard. In an attempt to make it easier, Chorong tells herself that she technically isn’t _lying_ to Bomi, only omitting the truth from her. It was a fair point; as much as she hasn’t told Bomi she was in love with her, Chorong hasn’t told Bomi she _wasn’t_ in love with her either. Little loopholes like this made her feel better about herself but it was a needle in a haystack. The needle being her feeling better and the haystack being a huge load of stress.

_“You’re only lying to yourself”_ Chorong remembers Eunji telling her before she left her room the morning after she stayed over. Eunji had been a great support, she validated what Chorong was experiencing and made sure the president knew she didn’t have to face whatever mess she was in, alone. Chorong has always been grateful for Eunji, as a friend and partner in leading the student council. Eunji has proven time and time again that Chorong could always depend on the girl, and that night was all the more another display of her reliability.

//

Chorong managed to quieten her feelings for a while, subduing any emotions that would bubble up if Bomi brushed Chorong’s hair behind her ear, or simply smiled at her. There were so many times Bomi pulled her heartstrings, but she had to control her feelings and thoughts, shutting them out as quick as she could. She’s been keeping up this facade with Changsub too, even though she feels a ton of guilt seep into her body every time she so much as smiles at him. The poor boy didn’t know anything, and Chorong just couldn’t bring herself to say the words. It’s not like she hasn’t tried, because she has, but they’re all very weak attempts.

/

“Did you hear what I said?” Changsub half-whispers.

“Hm what? Sorry,” Chorong gives a shake of her head and looks up from her worksheet to see Changsub looking curiously at her. They were in the library studying and she had gotten lost in her thoughts again. (Something that has been happening very often lately.) It was only a week to the start of what many students dread – the midterm exams. Chorong has been pretty distracted, which isn’t like her at all. Her mind keeps wandering off to places she rather not visit; like how she should break up with Changsub. Speaking of which, “I asked if you want dakbal for dinner,” Changsub kindly repeats himself.

“Oh, I’m pretty tired. I think I just wanna head back to my room, if that’s okay,” Chorong smiles apologetically as she makes an excuse because she can’t possibly go out for dakbal with a boy she has plans on possibly breaking up with, can she?

“Yeah, I understand, I’ll walk you back to the dorm,” Changsub’s smile is unsuspecting and warm, and Chorong wants to bang her head on the table right then and there.

He’s so kind and patient and understanding and Chorong is starting to hate it. All the qualities she once adored are now haunting her and making her already-difficult life situation even more difficult. Changsub didn’t deserve this, he’s always been good to her. Chorong can’t make up her mind and she’s getting frustrated and impatient with herself.

“I need to talk you,” Chorong blurts out and she’s suddenly thankful that the library isn’t that packed on a Tuesday because she’s sure the tables beside them would’ve heard her, had they been occupied. “ _I need to talk to you”_ is international code for _something bad is about to happen,_ Changsub knows this much at least, which is why his smile evidently dies a little.

“Oh.. sure, what’s up?” There’s a sense of uncertainty in his voice, Chorong can hear it and she feels guilt crashes into her. She wasn’t even thinking straight (haha) when she said those words. Chorong didn’t wanna talk, not now. She wasn’t ready, she needed time to plan out what to say, how to say it, and so many other details. Chorong panics internally as she mentally curses her dumb mouth.

“Uhm- what’s your first paper?” God damn it, that was the fastest line she could come up it, really?

“Everyone’s first paper is Math, is it not?” Changsub creases his eyebrows, genuinely confused.

“Ahh right, just checking,” Chorong isn’t sure why but she nods her head like she was taking his answer very seriously and Changsub doesn’t know what to think of this. He’s still taken aback from the weird question, but he figures Chorong was just acting differently from cramping for the exam. Stress does things to people, right?

//

Chorong had wanted a snack for lunch - didn’t have enough appetite for a full meal, she briefly explained to her friends. Naturally, as they’ve always been attached at the hip, Bomi follows her to the vending machine.

As Chorong stood in front of the machine, eyes scanning her options through the clear glass, Bomi walks up to her and gently presses herself against Chorong’s back, hands on her waist and chin resting on her shoulder. Chorong stiffens in the spot she’s standing and gulps, her body heating up way too much and way too quick for her brain to process. All she feels now is Bomi against her and she can’t focus on the snacks in the machine anymore. Bomi’s low voice, dangerously close to her ear, startles Chorong.

“Have you decided what you want yet?”

_Oh, Bomi, if only you knew what I wanted._

“Uhh, I don’t know, I’m not hungry,” Chorong says quickly as she tries to remove herself from Bomi’s hold, gently pushing the hands off her waist as she turns to face the younger girl. “Let’s just go back to our table,” Chorong tries not to make it a big deal.

“Really? You haven’t been eating well recently,” Bomi states as her eyebrows go into a straight line with concern and Chorong thinks it’s pathetic how her heart swells at knowing Bomi simply _cares_.

“Yeah, no, it’s fine, I’m not hungry,” Chorong repeats, then they walk back to the table empty handed. Some days, Chorong gets a small snack or a salad bowl for her body to obtain minimal nutrients, today just wasn’t one of those days. It’s safe to say that the state of her well-being and mental health has seen better days.

//

If you fill a bottle up with water without stopping to pour some out every once in a while, it’ll start overflowing, and that’s when it makes a mess. Like a bottle, everyone has their limits, including Chorong. It’s been a whole week since the vending machine incident, a whole week of trying to hide nerves and blushes around Bomi, and midterms were here. The friends were all seated at the table again, the usual seating arrangement, and Naeun had walked over before her class. She stands beside Bomi who was seated.

“New skirt?” Chorong eyes Naeun head to toe, and trepidation starts brewing in Bomi. Chorong doesn’t usually start a conversation with Naeun. Anyone could see that this was chaos in progress.

“It’s a little short, don’t you think?” Chorong adds. Bomi snaps her head to face Chorong, her eyes widened, clearly taken aback by the sudden hostility. Her mouth opens but no words come out. To say Bomi was staggered would be an understatement.

The insinuation behind the snide remark doesn’t go over Naeun’s head and she strikes back. “Yeah, just how Bomi likes it.” Chorong sure as hell wasn’t ready for that, and she feels her stomach twist.

The three friends shift awkwardly in their seats. Hayoung picks up her soda and takes a sip, her eyes glancing over to Namjoo then Eunji, who were both just as dumbfounded as Hayoung was. “She just meant uhm, y- your legs look long!” Bomi scrambles for words, desperately trying to rid the cold atmosphere, but it was deemed useless because Chorong doesn’t shut up like Bomi was silently wishing for.

“She knows what I meant,” Chorong shrugs and shifts her focus back to the food on her tray, suddenly having zero appetite to eat any of it. Eunji feels sorry for both Naeun and Chorong. Naeun didn’t deserve this, but Chorong was in her own battle - and losing helplessly, if this was any indication. This was probably just Chorong reaching her limit and bursting from all the suppressed emotions. Eunji didn’t know for sure, but it was a pretty good guess, and she didn’t know this either, but she was absolutely right.

Naeun rolls her eyes and scoffs as she brings a hand down to Bomi’s shoulder, rubbing softly. “Dinner tomorrow, babe?” Naeun’s tone now filled with affection, drastically different from just moments ago. _Psychopath,_ Chorong thinks. “Yeah, can’t wait” Bomi looks up and says, both relieved and thankful that Naeun wasn’t angrier than she expected.

Naeun bends down and kisses Bomi’s cheek, lingering a second too long for Chorong’s liking. The junior flashes a warm smile to her girlfriend before walking off to class. She doesn’t forget to throw Chorong a side eye before she’s finally out of her sight. Before Chorong manages to spit more nasty words out, she’s being dragged by the arm towards the stairwell hidden away from the canteen tables.

“What the hell was that?!” Bomi’s fuming mad. Chorong can tell if not from the frown on Bomi’s face, then from the loud voice fiercely demanding an explanation. The older girl isn’t used to it at all, and she snaps out of her thoughts, startled by the harsh tone. Bomi has never talked to Chorong like this.

“I’m not asking you to like her, though that _would_ be nice since she’s my _girlfriend_ , but the least you could do is _Not_ show how much you don’t! Which by the way, I still haven’t figured out the reason to!” Bomi is enraged, and all Chorong manages to say is “I- I don’t know, Bbom-ah, I’m sorry-“ but the younger one lets out an exasperated sigh and storms off, leaving Chorong to stand alone and defeated. It’s awfully familiar to the first time she stormed out of their room and Chorong feels absolutely crushed inside, silently praying that the cement floor would open up and swallow her whole. If the first fight was bad, Chorong thinks this one is catastrophic.

Chorong gets to another class soon after. She barely hears a word the teacher says for the whole hour.

/

Surprisingly, Bomi cools down back in the room a lot quicker than she expected herself. She thought about how Chorong hasn’t been herself lately - the lack of appetite, not sleeping well and her getting up groggily on many mornings, something must’ve been up. Bomi told herself to be understanding, for her best friend, to try and find a reason that would explain her sudden outburst at Naeun. There had to be a reason, because what just happened wasn’t like Chorong at all.

When Chorong gets back from class, she’s honestly surprised to see Bomi in the room watching mukbang videos on her bed. Chorong thought the younger girl would’ve camped out in Naeun’s room for at least two nights, and yes, she was already mentally preparing herself to sleep alone for however long it would be.

“Hey, listen, are you okay?” Bomi puts her phone down and removes her earpieces. The question was asked seriously, the usual fun in her voice nowhere to be found, and it almost scares Chorong, but she reminds herself to stay calm. Chorong takes her books out onto the desk to recap the notes she wrote in class.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Chorong says, but apparently, not very convincingly, because Bomi continues.

“You haven’t been yourself lately, what’s wrong?”

_Chorong doesn’t even know who she is herself anymore so this question would be hard to answer truthfully._

“Just stressed about midterms, that’s all,” Chorong lies right through her teeth, all this constant lying to Bomi seemingly getting more common with each passing day, yet not any easier. Chorong isn’t proud of it, but it’s her only shield of defence. She sits at the desk and looks at the words that don’t even make sense to her jumbled brain right now.

Bomi doesn’t buy Chorong’s excuse one bit. The class president was rarely stressed over exams, she always had everything in order and Bomi didn’t know anyone else as untroubled by exams as Chorong. Frankly, Chorong’s ability to stay terrifically on task in school is something Bomi will never understand herself. This blatant lie makes her curious though, was Chorong hiding something from her? Now she really has to know.

“Come on Rong, you’re never stressed about exams. What’s been bugging you?”

_Oh, Bomi, if only you knew._

Chorong is growing restless from all the sudden questioning but she knows Bomi is persistent and the girl just means well. She clenches her teeth and takes a breath, letting her thoughts rearrange themselves before answering.

“It’s complicated,” is all Chorong says, hoping it’s enough to stop Bomi from probing even further. In contrary, this only fuels Bomi’s curiosity and doubt, and somehow starts a small fire that seems like annoyance in the younger girl. They’ve always shared everything with each other, no lies or secrets between them, and now Chorong was breaking the foundation of their friendship? All for what? Bomi had no clue, and she frowns at this.

“Why can’t you tell me?“

“I told you, it’s complicated,” Chorong tries again, the firmness in her voice doesn’t go unheard.

“Do you not trust me enough?” The question feels like a stab to both Chorong and Bomi. It sounds foreign to them because they’ve never had to bring this up.

“That’s not what I said!” Chorong turns to look at Bomi, she feels wronged now, “Just let it go.”

“Fine,” Bomi begrudgingly accepts after a short moment, picking up her phone and wearing her earpieces to resume the mukbang video that suddenly isn’t as interesting as it was just now.

And just like that, the first wedge in what they thought was an unconditional and indestructible friendship. The silence between them in the room has never felt this awkward and uncomfortable. Tension, doubt and unanswered questions filled the air, and they both detested it. Chorong feels sorry, but she can’t do anything to alleviate the problem; the problem that **she** started. Chorong was right when she said she was stressed, but it definitely isn’t about midterms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys aren’t getting too bored or impatient with the progress and pacing of the story. I’m trying to make sure it’s realistic and well, realistically speaking, Chorong’s situation is one that can’t just be solved overnight, yknow? I feel like the whole experience including the growth, self-discovery and facing very real problems is what makes her character and the story so much more fulfilling and interesting. As always, I’d like to know your thoughts on the story so far if you have anything to say in the comments :) Once again, thanks so much for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something that needs to be done, gets done.

The other night, Bomi had to turn her desk lamp on because she couldn’t sleep in the dark. She has a massive fear of the dark and the only reason she could sleep with just the moonlight shining through the window was because she knew Chorong was there with her. So when she learned that Chorong wasn’t coming back to sleep, she just couldn’t get through the night without it. Back home, Chorong used to sleep with a night lamp, but just like Bomi, she didn’t need it anymore because she knew she wasn’t alone; _because Bomi made her feel safe_. The two best friends have always been reliant on each other, in ways that they might not even be aware of.

But for now, Chorong was relying on someone else.

“Sorry but I’m breaking up with you,” Chorong says.

“That’s all you’re gonna say?!” Eunji almost exclaims.

“Well, what else can I say? I’m trying to break up with him, aren’t I?” Chorong defends herself like a child being wrongly accused of something. They were in Eunji’s room after a student council meeting because Chorong said she needed help with the Changsub situation.

“You could make it sound nicer, I guess,” Eunji shrugs, she hasn’t entirely wrapped her head around the idea that she was helping out in the planning of Chorong’s break up with Changsub. What a strange situation she never would’ve expected herself to be in.

“Okay, so like... _you were good to me_ , that sort of thing?” Chorong tries.

“Mhm,” Eunji hums, nodding her head in agreement, “Try to let him off easy, yknow?”

“Yeah, I want to,” Chorong sighs. Breaking up was hard, even harder for her because she’s the one initiating it. Changsub was her first boyfriend and they had a good long run while it lasted. If all those months ago, you told Chorong that she would break up with Changsub one day, she would’ve laughed in disbelief. Now that she was in this very sticky situation, she could barely laugh at all.

“You would think that as the president of class and student council, I’d be better at handling tough situations,” Chorong half-jokes, attempting to lighten up the mood with some humour. It works, kind of, because Eunji chuckles and gives an apologetic smile.

“Don’t beat yourself up about it, this is in no way a situation you could have prepared for,” Eunji gives a pat on Chorong’s arm.

//

Things with Chorong and Bomi have been fine to say the least. They’ve definitely had better days where they’re happier and less elephant-in-the-room-y. The words they exchange in the room now are limited to facts and statements like “ _I’m going for class now_ ” and “ _I’m heading to the library_ ”. Chorong tells herself it’s good enough that they’re still talking, even if it’s minimal, at least they didn’t go with the silent treatment.

Bomi spends a lot of time in Naeun’s room, but that isn’t news to anyone. Bomi has also found that contrary to her fear, Naeun is a lot more even minded and understanding about the unexplained feud Chorong has with her.

“Hey Naeunie, I’m sorry you have to put up with all the shit Chorong gives you,” Bomi reaches up to tuck some dark hair behind Naeun’s ear, and a smile shows itself on the latter’s face.

“It’s okay, as long as I still have you,” The younger says and this time, it’s Bomi’s turn to smile. As quiet and disinterested Naeun usually seemed to the student body, she was different with Bomi. Bomi saw colours of Naeun that other students wouldn’t get to witness, and the knowledge of that made her feel very special. Bomi has grown very fond of the warmth in the art student.

“I just don’t know what she wants,” Bomi groans as she stands in the doorway, with Naeun’s hand on the door. She had brought up the situation with Chorong to get it off her mind, and who else to talk to besides your beloved partner, right? Well, Bomi didn’t know any better.

“Anyways, I should get going, I’ll text you!” Bomi leans forward and kisses Naeun. They capture each other’s lips with their own for a slow three seconds before they pull away. Bomi gives a quick peck to Naeun’s pink lips once more and winks before walking away. She had a class to get to and if she allowed another slow kiss, she probably wouldn’t make it to class at all.

Bomi said she didn’t know what Chorong wanted, but Naeun did. _She wants you,_ Naeun thinks as she closes the door with a click. She needed Bomi to stay oblivious, to stay unaware of what exactly Chorong wanted. Naeun grew up in the city where she’s had to pick up on social cues and learn to read people’s expressions. She’s seen the look in Chorong’s eyes when she so much as holds onto Bomi’s arm, like Naeun was stepping into _her_ territory and taking what Chorong felt was _hers_. It’s almost comical how Bomi doesn’t see it, and Naeun doesn’t know how Bomi can be this blind to Chorong’s feelings, but she’s almost glad for it.

This was becoming an all too common case of best friend versus lover, but advanced, and Naeun wasn’t ready for Bomi to have to choose yet - not when Naeun’s victory wasn’t even guaranteed. As much as she hates to admit it, Naeun knows that Chorong has a hold on Bomi, and if it ever came down to choosing between the two girls, Naeun wouldn’t be the most confident soldier in that battle. Which is why Naeun hopes Bomi stays in the dark about it for as long as Naeun can grow onto her. A little evil, maybe, but sometimes we do questionable things when we’re in love.

//

Midterms are over and Chorong has never been this relieved about it. Now she has time to really think and thoroughly sort out every aspect of her life. But then another problem arises - where exactly does she start? Does she break up with Changsub first? Is that even something she truly wants to do?

No. It was something she _needed_ to do.

Chorong has always had good sense and judgement, and she trusts herself. So when her mind settles on the thought that breaking up with Changsub was a necessary move she had to make, she just knew she had to do it. Now that they were done with midterms, Chorong has the time to talk to him, to _really_ talk to him. No lies or excuses or backing out, or at least she hopes. She’ll have to do it soon too if she wants to stop lying to herself.

//

“There’s a post-midterms party next week, are you coming?” Yongsun takes her seat next to the class president.

It was a good question, should Chorong go to the party? She has to deal with Changsub first though, and she doesn’t know when exactly that’ll happen, so she gives an unconfirmed answer, “Oh, I’m not sure yet.”

Chorong looks at Yongsun like she wants to say something but stops right before words can leave her mouth and she turns to face the front again. They were in class a little early so the teacher wasn’t there yet, and Chorong wanted advice from Yongsun again. Her desk mate was probably her best option to get relationship advice from, so Chorong figures, if not Yongsun, then who?

“Hey uhm, I’d like to know your opinion on something,” Chorong gets Yongsun’s attention and the latter leans back in her chair and faces Chorong. Her eyebrows rise up in anticipation of the pleasant surprise she was sure Chorong had for her, “Sure, what is it?”

“Hypothetically speaking, what would you do if the person you liked was already attached to someone else?”

Yongsun squints her eyes at Chorong as she thinks. What does Chorong want to hear? Should Yongsun be honest? She’s all for taking a leap of faith and being okay with a swing and a miss, but was it favourable for Chorong’s situation?

“Well…” Chorong listens closely, making sure she catches every word. “I personally wouldn’t pursue my crush if they were already seeing someone, especially if they’re happy together.” Yongsun decided to be honest. As much as she wants Chorong to be happy (if this hypothetical situation was really about Chorong), she couldn’t induce false hope in her friend and encourage her to go get her heart broken. Chorong hums at the response, she isn’t sure if it was what she expected, if she had expected anything.

“What would be the point?” Yongsun says after a moment, and Chorong looks at her with a question mark on her face. “What do you mean?”

“Well, if the person I like already has someone, then would I be trying to replace that someone? What exactly would I be trying to get from that situation? I say I’d be better off getting over that crush.” Yongsun explains.

“I see,” Chorong controls her facial expression to mask the pain she feels inside, clenching her teeth, “Thanks anyway.” It’s obvious that Yongsun was sure of what she was saying, and Chorong trusts her instincts too. The girl had a really good point, what would Chorong be trying to achieve if she were to do anything about the feelings she has for Bomi? She isn’t a home-wrecker.

“No problem, Rong. Is this… a personal problem of yours?”

“What? Of course not!” Chorong almost sounds offended and Yongsun notices but Chorong does too, so she hushes herself inwardly. “It’s just a hypothetical situation I thought about,” she says calmly.

“Right, okay,” Yongsun lets it slide, nodding her head, unsure if Chorong was trying to convince Yongsun or herself.

Yongsun’s input was like Chorong expected it to be - valuable. Her advice was logical and made a lot of sense to Chorong, which actually eases the class president’s choice of action about her feelings for Bomi. She simply didn’t have to tell the younger girl about it. Chorong hasn’t exactly mapped out a whole plan yet, but she has a rough idea about ignoring her feelings and letting it slowly dissipate. Yeah, because that worked _real great_ the first time. Who was Chorong trying to fool?

Hilarious, really.

//

Her thumbs tap the screen, typing her message quicker than her brain can properly process what her heart is doing.

**Chorong** _: hey, are you free tmr?_

**Changsub** _: always free for you :)_

Why does he have to be so sweet? It makes Chorong feel horrible. She closes her eyes and takes a breath before typing a reply. This will all be over soon, hopefully.

**Chorong** : _okay, the school park at 4pm?_

**Changsub** : _you wanna take a walk?_

**Chorong** : _uhm i just need to talk to you_

**Changsub** : _oh okay, see you then!_

You know that gut feeling you get like something bad is about to happen? That’s what Changsub felt, and he didn’t like it one bit.

It’s been four days since she asked for Yongsun’s thoughts on a “hypothetical” situation and she’s done a lot of thinking. Chorong’s decision to stay mum about her feelings hasn’t changed. In fact, she’s rather certain that she won’t confess to Bomi at all. Her plan was to break up with Changsub (because it was the right thing to do and Chorong is ever so righteous), then try to seamlessly recover the rough patch she has with Bomi to go back to how they were before Chorong’s life got all jumbled up. A plan so simple, yet not.

Chorong believes that if she tries harder this time, she can get over Bomi before the younger girl even has to know. She doesn’t want to get in between the relationship Bomi has with Naeun, and now that she understands why she’s been feeling so much, she thinks it’s easier to control said feelings.

/

She taps her finger against the top of her table and spaces out every few minutes, very unlike class president Chorong. Classes today haven’t been the most productive ones for Chorong. Her mind full of suspense and worry, never taking a break from imagining what she was going to do later that day – break up with Changsub. She couldn’t stop thinking, albeit agonising would be a better word. As stress slowly accumulates inside her throughout the day, she soon finds that time passes a lot quicker when your mind is elsewhere.

Changsub is already seated on a park bench when Chorong arrives. She feels her heart thump in her chest, and she can’t tame the nervous feeling that courses through her entire body. Her fingers fiddle and she runs them through her hair for the umpteenth time in the past hour, tucking hair that hasn’t even fallen out of place. Chorong finds this almost ridiculous because she isn’t even this big of a nervous wreck for final exams. She approaches the bench and when Changsub notices her, he gets up with a smile. A smile that seems a little hopeful yet hopeless at the same time, but Chorong doesn’t notice his expressions because she’s busy thinking about her own.

“Hey,” Changsub gives a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes and an awkward little wave with his hand, “Do you wanna sit and talk here?”

“Sure,” Chorong practically mutters as she takes a seat on the oak wood. She looks around the ground, the gravel path suddenly becoming so very interesting that she can’t take her eyes away from it. The sun shines through the gaps in the trees around them. Not too far away, the splashing sounds from a small water fountain can be heard and every once in a while, birds chirp as they hop around on branches of the tall trees. Chorong thinks it’s ironically romantic to break up with someone in a park where couples usually go for dates, then she silently curses herself for having such a thought. Changsub can really feel it now, the gut feeling that something bad is coming, and the anticipation for what he knows is about to happen makes him want to throw up. He sits with his hands on his lap and patiently waits for the inevitable. At this point, he knows there’s no use in hoping and praying that Chorong doesn’t go through with breaking up with him. If she’s come this close to doing it, it wouldn’t be much better if she chickened out and stayed with him anyway.

“Look, Changsub,” Chorong says “look” but she can’t even bring herself to meet his eyes, talk about irony. “There’s no easy way for me to say this-“ Chorong stops simply because she can’t continue, because she feels the fear and anxiety inside of her blocking her voice box, if that’s even physically possible. Memories of her and Changsub fill her mind, and her heart sinks from all the great ones. Her mouth opens slightly but no words come out, _I don’t love you anymore,_ she fails to say, but Changsub sees that she’s struggling, and he doesn’t need to hear it to understand.

“I know,” Changsub says softly, he lifts her chin up gently with his index finger, so they’re looking at each other now, and Chorong finally sees his face. Changsub is seemingly composed and almost sanguine, but his eyes betray him when the despair shows through. _He knows._ Changsub knows exactly what’s happening without Chorong having to actually say the words she’s been so afraid to say.

“I- I’m sorry, I really am,” the desperation in Chorong’s shaky voice shows that she doesn’t want him to think she’s a bad person. More words get stuck in her throat and she can’t explain that she never meant for this to happen, but a part of her believes that Changsub knows that too, even with her words left unsaid.

“It’s okay,” Changsub says reassuringly, he doesn’t want Chorong to beat herself up for this. Chorong looks at him wordlessly, she’s amazed, relieved yet scared and all at once.

“I can’t force you to love me again, but for what it’s worth, I can be glad you once did,” Changsub says with an apologetic smile, his eyes glossy, almost dazed.

Chorong can’t seem to say anything out loud, but she can hear the sound of her heart breaking. She doesn’t love him that way anymore, but the breakup still stung. She’s letting a big piece of her life go and she knows that it’s probably worse for Changsub – the pain. Because at least she’s come to terms with her feelings, or dare she say, loss of feelings, but Changsub still loves her. It might take a while for him to get over this, for either of them to get over this, it was hard. They shared a moment of silence, just taking in the peace of the park that surrounded them for what they knew was probably the last time they would be together like this.

Truth is, Changsub had been suspecting that this was going to happen, and when she texted him the day before, he just knew it was time. For about a whole month, Chorong had been acting unusually, she was being distant and was always distracted, her mind always elsewhere. So to be fair, that’s why he was relatively mentally prepared for this, to let go of Chorong. Changsub smiled at the thought of her again.

“I just hope you’re happy,” Changsub’s words are full of sincerity as always, and Chorong looks at him and leans forward to hug him. Changsub wraps his arms around her shoulders, breathing in her scent for the last time and lets a few tears roll down his cheeks when he closes his eyes.

“I wish you well, Chorong,” he says before pulling away, releasing Chorong from the hug.

“I’m sorry,” Chorong says again because she wants Changsub to know that she really is. Tears are threatening to fall from the rims of her doe eyes, but she doesn’t give in until she gets up and she starts walking away. This was a close to a big chapter in her life, Chorong got a massive weight off her shoulders and she finally felt _free_. Changsub’s mature reaction to an otherwise difficult situation really helped Chorong a whole lot. All that planning and preparation with Eunji didn’t really work out. But then again, Chorong has learned that not everything in life will work out the way she imagines.

Heck, she’s in love with Bomi. That alone was once unimaginable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took a little while, it took more brain power to write it out because it’s a hUge part of Chorong’s life so I wanted it to be as perfect as I could write it. Yes I know she didn’t even say the words “I’m breaking up with you” but that’s what I was going for!! Her character is timid, scared, anxious and this situation she’s in is extremely new to her, so you can’t blame her for acting like a deer in headlights, can you? Also, there was no chobom interaction in this chapter because it was focused on their lives separately. Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you could leave a comment while you’re here so I know what you think :D


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chorong tries to cope with the pain but like the mess she currently is, makes bad decisions along the way. Bomi gets drunk as hell at the post-midterms party.

With her heart in pieces and tears streaming down her cheeks, Chorong carries herself to a room recently getting more and more familiar to her – Eunji’s. When the younger girl opens her door and sees the state Chorong is in, she can only assume what has happened. She immediately pulls Chorong into the room with a hug, closing the door in the process and they stand there for a few minutes. Eunji softly caresses Chorong’s hair and she wants to tell her that _it’s okay_ , but she doesn’t actually know that, so she doesn’t say it. Chorong is sobbing now, and her hands grip onto Eunji’s white t-shirt, her face in the crook of Eunji’s neck, and the latter just stands there, letting Chorong’s tears dampen her shirt. Chorong stays in her room for an hour, give or take, before she splashes cold running water onto her face in Eunji’s bathroom and returns to her room.

The wedge between Chorong and Bomi’s friendship helps the former when Bomi barely looks at Chorong in their room, so she doesn’t notice the pink rims of her round eyes. _Chorong doesn’t know how she would lie about that._ She washes up and gets into her bed without saying anything, it has become a routine over the past week, moving around their room silently. _This will be over soon enough_ , Chorong tells herself, but she feels her chest tighten under the blanket. It’s a feeling she’ll have to get used to if she’s going to constantly lie to herself, brainwashing her feelings for Bomi to disappear.

They’ve never felt further apart from each other, yet Chorong still feels safe enough to sleep when Bomi turns the lights off later that night. She doesn’t notice it, neither of them do, but both of them share the same sense of security.

//

“So, I’ll see you tonight, right?” Yongsun asks with a smile on her face.

“What’s happening tonight?” Chorong rubs her eyes and frowns slightly.

“The post-midterms party, remember? Byulyi said Bomi’s gonna be there, so I thought you’d be going too.”

_Oh._

“Right, yeah, I’ll see you tonight,” Chorong _knows_ that a party where alcohol and Bomi are going to be is definitely not what her emotional state needs, but it sounds enough of a distraction to her and that’s _exactly_ what she wants. She was in the phase right after a breakup where life was all messed up, like her life was in a precious snow globe, and the act of breaking up with Changsub vigorously shook her globe into a wreck. Chorong was going through the phase of emotional instability and possible trail of bad decisions - going to the party possibly being the first one.

/

Chorong arrived at the party in hopes that it would distract her from Bomi. Her plan proving itself to be harder than she imagined, what with Naeun clinging onto Bomi the whole time they’ve been in the common room. Chorong grimaces then takes a sip from the red cup she had in hand. She watches Bomi very intentionally stop the spinning bottle in Naeun’s direction and the couple proceeds to make out, earning cheers from the spectators around them. _Spin the bottle, what a stupid game._ Chorong momentarily remembers the first (and only) time Bomi kissed her. She downs the rest of her drink and feels the vodka burn the back of her throat, almost tearing up from it. Chorong shuts her eyes to get over the brief high, but it only paints the image of their kiss more vividly this time. Was that perhaps the start of her awakening? When Bomi kissed her and she let her thoughts run wild? Chorong’s epiphany is interrupted when a hand lands on her shoulder. She opens her eyes, it’s Eunji.

“I’m exhausted, will you be okay if I leave first?”

“Of course, Meung, what do you take me for?” Chorong chuckles slightly, leaning her back against the wall. Chorong sneezes _. Does alcohol make you sneeze?_ She’ll have to Google that later.

“God bless you! See you when I see you,” Eunji returns the chuckle then she leaves.

Namjoo’s alcohol tolerance is way lower than her hyper character may suggest, so Hayoung had to safely transport her back to their room way earlier (like at most parties), meaning Chorong was left in the party with no friendly supervision – excluding Bomi because that girl was evidently distracted.

Chorong needed a better distraction, stat, and just then, like the heavens heard her, a boy approaches and stands in front of Chorong with a drink in his hand. Her eyes flutter up at him, she recognises Eunkwang, and notices how close he was, the little space between them already saying more than his actual words. The smell of alcohol wafted out from Eunkwang, and Chorong figures this is good enough of a distraction, so she doesn’t push him away like she would’ve if this happened more than a week ago.

“Hey,” Eunkwang starts. His tone of voice suggests that he isn’t that drunk, maybe just tipsy.

“Hey,” she says back, her eyes averting to the ground. This felt... foreign, in a sense. When she was with Changsub, boys didn’t approach her anymore - respectful ones at least. So, being cornered up against a wall at a party like this felt new to the class president. She wasn’t going to reject it though, not when Eunkwang was all she could see in this moment, blocking the line of sight Chorong had of Bomi with Naeun. He must’ve heard that Changsub and her broke up, since he’s in the same class as Changsub.

“I heard you’re single now,” he says. There it is, just as Chorong thought. “You’re here alone?” Eunkwang steps a tiny bit closer, and half of Chorong’s mind thinks it might be a little _too_ close.

_This might’ve been the second bad decision._

“Yeah,” Chorong’s voice is small but still heard. She looks down into her empty red cup and subconsciously holds it slightly higher in front of her as if to create some physical barrier between her and Eunkwang. Was she accepting his advances or not? She didn’t know yet, but she hasn’t made an excuse to leave, so she thinks she wants to stay.

A breakup hits differently for different girls. Some get a new hairdo, some buy clothes excessively, and some others (like Chorong), seek for distractions and rebounds to fill the empty spaces in their hearts. Chorong was a goddamn mess right now, all she knew she wanted was a distraction and Eunkwang was proving himself to be a very available one, so what was the problem?

It’s simple, really, the problem was that she wanted Bomi, and only Bomi, so this distraction would only work as far as she allowed it too.

It doesn’t go very far, actually. She isn’t interested in half the things Eunkwang has been telling her, she nods and smiles every now and then but God, she’s getting restless. She thinks maybe if she kissed him, he’ll stop talking. It’s been what – ten, fifteen minutes? And he still hasn’t kissed her. Did she read his signals wrong? 

Sure, Eunkwang approached her with the intentions of maybe getting a little action, but it was all just liquid courage in the moment. A few minutes after he walked up to Chorong, he sobered up enough to realise what he was doing. _When did their faces get this close?_ He tries to retreat as subtly as possible, hoping he doesn’t embarrass himself in front of the class president like this. Her wandering, and might I add, _bored_ eyes don’t seem to notice.

“How’s the planning of the school’s Annual Carnival going?” Chorong hears him ask. This question seems to grab her attention.

“Oh, it’s great. Everything’s settled and we just have to wait for the actual day to come.” Chorong says. The student council was in charge of the school’s Annual Carnival where they get people to come set up their stalls under huge white tentage all over the school’s parade square. It was a day of food, games, and tons of fun with friends – which is why students look forward to it.

“That’s good to hear, I’m sure you’re doing a great job as president,” Eunkwang chuckles, and Chorong smiles at the compliment. She’s not the type to seek for praises, but she can’t lie that hearing things like that makes her feel good about herself. It’s normal, of course, because being told we’ve done a good job at something makes us feel appreciated, and Chorong likes that.

“Thanks,” Chorong looks up and finally makes eye contact with Eunkwang. He’s smiling softly too and for a moment they just stand there, cancelling out the noise from the other students in the room.

Whatever moment they were having gets interrupted when someone pops up behind Eunkwang. “Uhm… I think you need to bring Bomi back to her room.”

Chorong’s senses automatically heighten at the sound of Bomi’s name. She looks over Eunkwang’s shoulder to see the owner of the voice and recognises Byulyi, who has confusion and curiosity written all over her face. Her eyes dart to Eunkwang when he turns around to the voice behind him, then her eyes go back to Chorong. Byulyi doesn’t say anything else, but it seems like she wants to.

“Why, what’s wrong?” Chorong asks.

“She’s like, _really_ drunk,” Byulyi says seriously.

“Where’s Naeun?” Chorong frowns because this shouldn’t be _her_ problem. Bomi being drunk shouldn’t be a mess that _Chorong_ has to deal with. Besides, wasn’t she with Naeun the whole time at this party?

“Uh, she’s kinda drunk too.” This was true, Naeun was a little too out of her senses to haul Bomi back to her room herself, let alone take care of the both of them.

“Sorry, best friend duties,” Chorong shakes her head as she tells Eunkwang and he says a “Yeah, you should go,” before Chorong follows Byulyi to find the baseball captain. Bomi was shitfaced drunk, alright. She was babbling on about something while leaning against Yongsun for support. Chorong swings Bomi’s left arm around her shoulder and puts her right arm around Bomi’s waist to hold her in place, their bodies joined at the hip. Naeun watches this happen but she doesn’t try to stop it, she doesn’t utter a single word. Yongsun and Byulyi offer to help but Chorong insists that it’s fine.

They make it back to their room and Bomi falls, or more like _crashes_ , onto her bed. Chorong can only heave a weary sigh as she stands there, looking down at Bomi sprawled out on the sheets. They were technically still having a cold war with each other, but Chorong being Chorong, doesn’t have to think twice about taking care of Bomi. In fact, she doesn’t even think about it, she just starts moving quietly around the room. Chorong takes a hand towel, wets it under the tap in the bathroom, then squeezes the excess water out into the sink. She brings it to Bomi, who obediently lets Chorong wipe her arms and legs with the damp towel. Bomi stopped babbling somewhere along the way back to the room, her energy was drained but at least that made the air in the room more peaceful. Once she’s done wiping Bomi down, Chorong decides she can leave Bomi for a short while to go wash her face and change into a fresh set of clothes.

When she turns the toilet light off and walks back to check on Bomi, it seems the younger girl had her own idea of changing. She had taken her top off and dropped it on the floor by her bed. Bomi often sleeps in just undergarments anyway, so Chorong isn’t all too surprised. She does think Bomi will get cold though, so she tries to pull the blanket over her.

“Come here,” Bomi mumbles with her eyes closed as she stretches her arms out on the bed.

“What?” Chorong stops moving, her hands gripping onto Bomi’s blanket. _Did she hear that right?_ She only manages to get the blanket to cover up to Bomi’s thighs when Bomi speaks again.

“Sleep with me,” Bomi groans, her voice low and husky, and her eyes still closed, but her words a little more audible this time. One hand reaches up to rub her nose as she yawns loudly.

Chorong hesitates. She definitely heard that, and it’s not like they’ve never slept together, but should she really be getting into Bomi’s bed right now? She contemplates for a second, only to be pulled down onto the bed before her decision ~~which was to get into the damn bed with Bomi anyway~~ was even made.

_Possibly the third bad decision of the night. Possibly._

Bomi lies on her side as she hugs Chorong’s petite waist and Chorong can only remind herself to breathe. Bomi has her face right in front of Chorong’s, and the latter gulps at the mere inches between them. She feels how stiff her body has gotten in this very moment, a moment which would’ve felt much less intimate about half a year ago, and she wants to laugh at how times have changed (albeit maybe crying would be more likely).

Bomi must’ve gotten cold like Chorong predicted would happen, because Bomi lazily reaches down to the blanket around her thighs and pulls it up to cover their bodies as she snuggles even closer to Chorong. Chorong hasn’t moved an inch since she got pulled onto the bed, her arm was getting uncomfortable and her neck was going to cramp up any second now. She can’t exactly leave the bed either because Bomi’s hold around her waist is tight (and she doesn’t have the heart to leave). Chorong gives in and tries to shift around to get into a more comfortable position so she doesn’t wake up with sore muscles. Moving like a sloth, she manages to turn so she’s lying on her back with a hand resting over Bomi’s arm that drapes across her abdomen. Just then, Bomi makes another groan like she’s trying to say something, so Chorong turns her head to the side to face the younger girl. It’s dark in the room but Chorong feels… safe. It almost feels like nothing has changed.

“I love you,” Bomi says weakly, but it’s hard for Chorong to miss it because she’s right there in front of her face. Chorong’s heart starts racing in her chest and she feels the blood rushing to her cheeks. There’s no way she meant to say that, right? But Chorong was only human and as much as she hated it, she wanted to believe that Bomi meant it. Chorong’s eyes soften as her vision relies on the moonlight to see Bomi’s face. Her peaceful closed eyes, her small nose and pink lips. Oh, how badly Chorong wanted to kiss her right now. She thinks about saying it back, those three words, it’s really only been a few seconds, but all these thoughts are rushing through and piling up in her head like it’s been minutes or even hours. She stares at Bomi, and she feels like her heart is about to leap out of her chest. Her lips part to say the words and she feels like she’s on top of the world as she starts, “I-“

“Goodnight, Naeunie.” It comes out as a whisper but Chorong hears it like it’s the most deafening sound she’s ever heard.

And then Chorong feels her entire world come crashing down. _Naeunie,_ _of course_. Of course, drunk Bomi would think she was with her junior girlfriend. Of, fucking, course. What did Chorong expect? That Bomi was just suddenly in love with her? No, of course not, Chorong, of course not. She turns her head back to face the ceiling. Chorong wants to scream, she wants to shriek in absolute pain, but she can’t, and it hurts so goddamn much in her chest. Was it pain or anger that she was feeling as tears brimmed her eyes? Chorong wishes she knew.

She should’ve known.

//

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh mAn, I really wracked my brain for this chapter which is why it took so long jhskfsldk I had to ask my friends for opinions on how this chapter could’ve gone and finally, here it is! I also have school which is why I ask for your patience :’) but don’t worry, I still write this story whenever I can!!
> 
> thanks for waiting, and I hope you liked the chapter! <3


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chorong and Bomi are on speaking terms again. Bomi finds out about Chorong’s breakup and it seems to affect her more than expected.

“Ugh,” Bomi groans in pain. Her head throbs with each slight movement, and she thinks her senses are amplified by at least a hundred times.

“Here,” Chorong hands her a painkiller and a glass of water like their past routine.

“Oh, thanks,” Bomi says, uncertain of how she should react to this familiar care. Chorong’s hospitality was something Bomi could always rely on but has slowly been forgetting these few months. The simple act of passing her a pill and water suddenly brought back memories of all the other times she’s taken care of Bomi, and she finds herself reminiscing about the way they used to be. Bomi slowly sits up on her bed to take the painkiller and finds herself hoping that they could go back to the way they once were.

“Will you be okay alone?” Chorong’s voice brings Bomi out of her head and back to reality.

“Hm? Oh, yeah,” Bomi makes a pained expression as she stretches down to place the cup on the floor before slowly lying back down. “I’ll be fine,” she says, not very convincingly.

“I know you don’t have any appetite right now, but I’ll get some food for you later, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Chicken porridge?”

“Mhm,” Bomi hums softly at the sound of her favourite comfort food; Chorong knows her like the back of her hand. And with that, Chorong exits the room, leaving Bomi on the bed with the ends of her mouth curled up ever so slightly.

She’s happy to hear Chorong talking to her, but she’s more than glad to know that Chorong still cares. She almost forgets why they’re in this cold war in the first place. (Ah right, it was about trust.)

Bomi spends the day in bed like a sick child while Chorong spends hers at a council meeting. She had to finalise a few things for the Annual Carnival and make sure that everything was in check before the big day. At least this gave her mind something else to focus on. Chorong hasn’t thought much about last night. There wasn’t much for her to think about anyway. Bomi was drunk, said some things she meant for Naeun to hear, and Chorong simply couldn’t do anything about it. If there was any consolation from the whole fiasco (that Bomi doesn’t remember), at least they’re speaking to each other again.

When Chorong comes back in the afternoon bearing warm porridge, Bomi is certainly delighted. Steam escapes the plastic container as Bomi removes the lid off her packed food, and its pleasant aroma dances around the room. She sits at her desk, letting Chorong do her own things quietly like her usual self. Bomi is blowing lightly onto a spoonful of porridge when she hears Chorong clear her throat a little awkwardly behind her.

“I’m sorry,” Chorong says, her voice soft and sincere, “I trust you, I do, but I need you to trust me too when I say I’ll tell you everything… when I can.” She sits in her own chair facing Bomi’s back and fiddles with her fingers in front of her. Chorong wishes she could tell Bomi everything, but it wasn’t that simple now, was it?

Bomi puts the spoon down and spins around in her chair to face Chorong. She looks at the older girl, and call it a gut feeling, but Bomi knew she could trust Chorong. “Okay, I trust you.”

Chorong lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “It was really hard not talking to you,” Chorong admits, and there’s a beat of hesitation before she speaks again. “So, we’re okay now?”

Not wanting to spend any longer in this tense air, Bomi thinks humour would lighten the mood. “Yeah, of course. Hah! Sounds like you missed me,” Bomi teases jokingly and laughs. Chorong looks up at the sound she’s grown to love, and their eyes meet from across each side of the room. There’s a pause, as if Chorong was carefully deciding the words to say, then, _“I did.”_ Chorong’s voice is small, so small that it would’ve been inaudible if not for the silence in the room.

_Did you?_ Chorong wants to know, but she doesn’t ask. She doesn’t dare to.

Bomi stares back into Chorong’s eyes and sees what she thinks is anticipation and hope. The grin on her face has transformed into an unreadable expression, and an unfamiliar sensation sits in her stomach. There’s another pause, then as Chorong’s eyes fall to the floor, “I missed you too,” Bomi says. Her voice not as soft as Chorong’s, but just as genuine.

They both smile warmly, and just like that, it was the two of them against the world, together again.

//

It’s Math period now and the teacher is saying some things that Bomi hardly understands - maybe she would if she bothered to pay attention. Beside her, Byulyi plays with her pen from boredom and restlessness. There was still a good half an hour till the end of class. Bomi feels a poke in her side and she turns to face her desk mate.

“So, Chorong and Eunkwang, huh?” Byulyi half-whispers, because they’re in class.

“What are you talking about?” Bomi has absolutely no idea what Byulyi is suggesting.

“They were at the party together last week so I just thought,“ Byulyi gestures with her hands ambiguously.

“They were?” Now Bomi is _really_ confused. Eunkwang, as in the senior in Changsub’s class? What did he have anything to do with Chorong?

Byulyi analyses Bomi and concludes that the baseball captain probably wasn’t up to date with the whole Chorong-Changsub situation yet. She wonders why, though she already has an inkling, since she discussed this with Yongsun the night of the party. Yongsun thinks they’ve broken up, and Byulyi only thinks so because she’s sure the president wouldn’t cheat on Changsub like that. Okay fine, it’s not like she caught Chorong making out with Eunkwang or anything, but it was definitely possible and _could’ve_ happened, and that’s what counts.

“Yeah, they seem pretty cute together.”

“No, they’re not,” Bomi denies, then quickly questions the denial. “Are they?” She frowns, _what is this strange feeling bubbling in her stomach?_ But she doesn’t even give Byulyi time to answer before she’s asking another question, “Wait, what about Changsub?”

“I don’t know, I thought they broke up,” Byulyi lets it slip and she regrets it instantly when Bomi whips her head and lets out a hushed “What?!”

_Ah shit, Yongsun is gonna kill me._

“I don’t know for sure though,” Byulyi tries quickly.

Bomi is still confused. She’ll have to ask Chorong about that later. Why would she be at the party with Eunkwang? There must be some sort of misunderstanding, right? Well, forget Math, because all Bomi knows is that she ponders over Byulyi’s words for the rest of the class.

_“They seem pretty cute together.”_

/

Meanwhile, in another classroom, Yongsun has been waiting for the opportunity to dig out more information to confirm her suspicions. As much as she empathises with Chorong for being in such a mess, she’s been having her own fun playing Detective with Byulyi every now and then. Between the night of the party that happened last week and now, Yongsun has heard a few whispers about Chorong and Changsub breaking up, but she won’t fully believe it unless she hears it from Chorong herself.

The teacher had just given them a five-minute break and some students leave to go to the restroom. _This is it; this is the perfect opportunity._ Yongsun leans over and invades Chorong’s personal space like it’s nothing.

“So, Byulyi told me she found you with a certain boy at the party last week...”

It isn’t a question, but Chorong feels like Yongsun wants answers. _And she’s right._

Chorong swats Yongsun away with her hands like she’s an insect, and successfully wins some of her space back. Yongsun has a huge grin on her face though, so Chorong doesn’t feel like she’s won at all.

“And?” is all Chorong says. Of course, reserved as usual.

“Aaaand,” Yongsun drags, “Why wasn’t it Changsub?” She bites her bottom lip in suspense, waiting to hear what she’s been thinking, but from Chorong’s own mouth.

“We broke up,” Chorong says indifferently.

“Oh!” Yongsun feigns surprise. “So, that boy at the party - _Eunkwang_ , was it? What’s up with you and him?” She leans a little closer to Chorong again, her full attention on the president.

Chorong doesn’t recall saying his name so it must mean Yongsun knew this whole time. Byulyi must’ve told her, and Chorong isn’t even mad or surprised.

“Nothing,” Chorong shrugs. _This five-minute break feels longer than it should be._ “We didn’t do anything if that’s what you’re asking.”

Yongsun nods like she’s a reporter interviewing Chorong and she’s mentally taking notes of anything her interviewee says. It was almost as if she was transcribing this whole conversation in her head. Chorong wouldn’t be too surprised at that either. Chorong remembers her first impression of Yongsun to be... unique. Definitely loud and one of a kind, but she’s entertaining and adds _flavour_ to Chorong’s dull classes so she’s thankful, nonetheless.

“Will you two be doing anything eventually?” Yongsun wiggles her eyebrows as she stifles a laugh.

Chorong shakes her head. “No,” She says simply, and Yongsun believes her.

“Alright class, let’s carry on!” They hear the teacher announce and they get on with class with no more interviewing. Yongsun has gotten a whole load of new information anyway. (And yes, she can’t wait to share it with Byulyi.)

_Later that night, Bomi forgets to ask. Bummer._

//

The carnival is a few days away now and the five friends are sitting for lunch together as usual. Namjoo loves carnivals and she’s been displaying her excitement to Hayoung in screams the past few days. Hayoung thinks it’s a miracle she hasn’t gone deaf while dating the cheerleader.

The news about Chorong and Changsub has been spreading quietly but hasn’t seemed to reach Junior classes, which is why Namjoo asks, “Is Changsub bringing you to the carnival?”

_Oh shit._ Chorong hasn’t told them - she hasn’t told _Bomi_. Chorong feels Eunji’s gaze on her, no - everyone at the table was looking at her now. Eunji almost speaks up to help change the subject, seeing that Chorong hasn’t said anything, but Chorong recollects herself.

“No… we broke up.”

Beside Chorong, Bomi remains silent. She remembers now that she had wanted to ask about it the other day, but it slipped her mind. _Turns out Byulyi was right, huh?_ Bomi wonders why Chorong didn’t tell her about this sooner, then she thinks if this breakup has anything to do with the secret Chorong can’t tell her. There’s a bitter taste in Bomi’s mouth when she thinks about Chorong hiding things from her.

At the same time, Hayoung gets up abruptly with her hands on the table. “What?! How dare he break up with you!” She looks like she’s ready to throw hands, and she is, until Chorong speaks up again.

“Actually, _I_ broke up with him.”

This new information shocks them, but it shocks Bomi especially. How did Bomi even miss this? Bomi’s straight eyebrows dip into a slight frown, and her feelings of disappointment turn into guilt when she realises that Chorong must’ve been in a wreck, and Bomi wasn’t there for her.

“Oh...” Hayoung sits back down.

“Are you okay?” Namjoo asks, her big eyes are full of worry and her eyebrows droop sadly. It’s cute. Everyone’s eyes are on Chorong, including Bomi’s.

“Yeah, don’t worry,” Chorong says and shows them a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes _(Only Bomi notices)_. She hasn’t turned to look at Bomi this whole time, scared of the betrayal or anger she’ll see on her face. It’s a shame because she doesn’t see that Bomi is looking at her with all the concern in the world, and no hint of anger to be found.

“Let’s go to the carnival together, all of us!” Namjoo suggests, hoping to bring up the mood.

“Sure,” Chorong smiles, and this time it reaches her eyes. It’s the effect of Namjoo’s contagious joy.

Chorong finally turns to Bomi, and because she still believes in brainwashing her feelings away, she tells Bomi to bring her girlfriend along - because she thinks seeing them together would help her get over Bomi.

“You should bring Naeun.”

Everyone thinks they heard it wrong, but Bomi reacts like she didn’t even have Naeun in mind. _Perhaps she didn’t, because other thoughts were occupying her head._

“Oh! Right, is that okay?” Bomi asks.

“Yeah, of course,” Chorong reassures. It’s odd, very odd, if you ask the other three friends at the table.

Bomi thinks Chorong is just being nice because they’ve patched up as best friends again, and she does appreciate the effort. Then she thinks about the revelation about her and Changsub. Bomi think it’s strange now that Chorong is _single_. Has it aways felt this... _strange_? Is “strange” even the right word? She shakes the feeling off and forgets about it.

//

The day of the carnival is here. Hours have passed and the sun is beginning to set but students still bustle around the big parade square, some carrying prizes they’ve won from the game stalls. Many other students cover the vast field behind the parade square, either on picnic mats or standing by those high tables you’d see at bars. Everyone is chatting away and eating the food they’ve bought from the various stalls there. They’re all waiting for the fireworks that are supposed to set off at night.

Among the crowd on the field, not too far from the parade square, the six girls have found a spot to sit on their own checkered mats. It’s been a good day - Chorong and Naeun haven’t tried grabbing each other by the throat so Eunji thinks it’s splendid, really. Bomi is more relieved than anything that her two favourite girls are spending time together – her two favourite girls, hm, when did that become a thing? (And which one is her first favourite?)

“Babe,” Naeun calls softly, holding a spoon of ice cream in front of Bomi’s face. The latter delightfully opens her mouth, but she gets some ice cream on the corner of her lips. Typical.

Chorong almost instinctively reaches out to wipe it but Naeun beats her to it, her hand coming up to wipe the ice cream off. Chorong’s hand itches in her lap, but she can’t do anything about it.

_Pain_. The pain she thought she was handling pretty well decides to show up again. Chorong clenches her jaw and takes a deep breath.

“I’ll be back,” Chorong says to no one in particular and stands up.

“But the fireworks-“ Namjoo says, but Chorong is already walking.

Bomi looks at Chorong’s disappearing back and she doesn’t know why but she gets up too. “I’ll go with her,” Bomi says innocently.

She jogs towards Chorong, or at least towards what she can still see of the president in the sea of students. When she’s near enough, Bomi reaches out to hold Chorong’s hand.

“Hey, wait up! Where are you rushing off to?” Bomi chuckles, Chorong’s hand still in her grasp.

There’s a moment of surprise before Chorong recognises Bomi. She turns around and looks down at their hands. Her hand. In Bomi’s. At this moment, Chorong realises two things: She didn’t really know where she was headed, and she really likes Bomi’s soft hands.

Two things, both of which she can’t say out loud.

“Oh, hey, I was just gonna get a water,” It’s a white lie, and it’ll have to do for now. Chorong thinks it’s actually a pretty legitimate answer, so she pats herself on the back for that.

“Cool, I could use a drink too,” Bomi beams at her. Her eyes crinkle into slits and heck, why are they still holding hands?

Bomi ends up pulling Chorong along with her, by the hand, to the drink store. They’re standing in line when a cold wind blows and Chorong shudders.

Bomi detaches their hands now and Chorong misses the lost contact immediately. Then before she even realises, Bomi drapes the quilted bomber jacket she had just taken off, around Chorong’s small frame.

“Here,” is all she says.

“Aren’t you cold?” Chorong worries; she never stops when it comes to Bomi.

“It’s okay. Guess I’ll have to steal some warmth back,” Bomi croaks as she holds Chorong’s hand again, this time interlocking them, and Chorong would be lying if she said that didn’t make her heart flutter.

They reach the front of the line and when the stall tender sees their interlocked hands, he says a passing “You guys look adorable together,” to which Chorong goes “Oh we’re not-“ and Bomi dismisses with a “Thanks!”

_Weird_.

Chorong had gotten a bottle of mineral water (which Bomi called lame because she got a Coke) and she had close to no intention of drinking it, but she takes a sip anyway. Her throat has gotten more parched than she remembers. Perhaps the handholding affected her more than she thought.

They’re not holding hands anymore, but that’s okay, because she feels the warmth from Bomi’s jacket. Chorong forgets why she even walked away from the group in the first place. She only remembers when they start walking back to the field.

“You can go back first, I think I wanna walk in the garden for a bit,” Chorong says, and Bomi tilts her head.

“I’ll walk with you,” Bomi replies. She wants to be there for the president, she doesn’t want to leave her alone again.

Chorong blinks. She can’t exactly say “I need some space away from you right now,” so she lets Bomi walk with her.

They make a detour to the garden which is a little walk away from the field. The sun has set now, but the yellow lights from the stalls and lampposts around the school allow them to not walk blindly. The two girls find their way to a wooden bench. It’s away from the crowd and the noise and they hear crickets chirping in the bushes around them. Chorong can hear, if not feel, her steady heartbeat. They sit so close on the bench that their shoulders rub against each other’s.

Chorong looks up. The sky is a much darker shade of blue now. They don’t talk for the next few minutes and it feels comfortable; or at least it’s definitely familiar.

Chorong thinks about the girl beside her, she thinks about what Bomi is thinking of, she thinks about the silence they’re sharing, and how long they’ll be able to sit here like this. Chorong thinks about the present, the past, the future. The future for her and Bomi - what would that be like? They’ve promised each other a few years back to further their studies, go to Seoul University together, and stay as best friends and roommates for that journey. Will they be able to fulfil that dream?

“What are you thinking about?” Bomi’s voice breaks the silence, but it doesn’t feel intrusive, it never would be to Chorong.

She can feel that Bomi has turned to look at her, but Chorong keeps her eyes on the dark sky. What a hard question to answer. Where does she even begin? Chorong feels like they’re standing on a highway and her thoughts speed past her like the cars on the road do. When Bomi asks what she’s thinking of, it feels like she’s asking her what car she was looking at. Chorong can’t answer, because there’s too many cars, and they’re all out of her sight by the time she wants to answer.

“A lot of things,” Chorong settles for that. At this moment, Chorong realises another thing. Her heart beats quicker under Bomi’s gaze.

Just then, a sound somewhat close to an explosion is heard loud and clear, and a scarlet waterfall of sparks show in the night sky. Chorong winces at the first sudden bang, but then relishes the beautiful moment. More fireworks shoot up right after, and suddenly it isn’t so dark anymore. The bright warm colours shine down on them like huge spotlights from the sky, and Bomi is still looking at Chorong.

If Bomi was even a tiny bit fazed by the fireworks, she doesn’t show it. Her eyes are still glued to Chorong’s side profile, and as crazy as it sounds, Bomi feels like everything in the world aligned in that very moment. Bomi can see how the bright sparks in the sky reflect on Chorong’s fair complexion.

She blinks once. Twice.

Bomi visibly gulps.

Chorong looks beautiful, perhaps _too_ beautiful. Her gaze on Chorong turns even softer, and it seems the older girl has submitted all her attention to the raining shimmer. Despite the loud explosions in the sky, Bomi hears what she thinks is her heart threatening to burst through her chest. But wait, there’s that unfamiliar sensation again, and this time, it sits in the pit of her stomach. Bomi furrows her brows in thought.

All this concentration is quickly shattered when she hears a twig snap nearby. Bomi’s head turns to look over her shoulder to face the source of the sound, but she doesn’t see anyone. It must’ve been a squirrel or something. 

Behind a bush, Naeun ducks as low as she physically can, trying really hard not to move or make another sound. She’s on one knee, with a hand on the gravel to support her weight. Naeun’s heart races as fear jolts through her body from almost being spotted. It sure as hell was night-time, but the way Bomi looks at Chorong made something clear as day to Naeun.

She would never win the battle against Chorong.

//

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for the wait and i hope you enjoyed this slightly longer chapter! it’s always the things we don’t expect that affect us more than we want them to, and in this case, it seems Chorong being single has changed the way Bomi sees her,, hMm stay tuned for the next chapter! btw we're not near the end yet, i hope you guys are still interested jsdfksdk it rly is a slowburn aha~ don’t forget to comment or kudos if you’d like to :D stay safe and healthy <3


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